Lawmaker appeals to FG to deploy troops to southern Taraba

Daniel Gani, member representing
Wukari II Constituency in Taraba State House of
Assembly, has called on the Federal Government
to deploy soldiers in the area to avert further
attacks by suspected herdsmen.
Gani made the call on Wednesday while
addressing news conference in Jalingo.

He said the low presence of security personnel in
the area was responsible for the ongoing
senseless killing of innocent people.
“The only way to avert these brutal killings in
Wukari and its environs is to massively deploy
troops just like what the federal government did
in Benue and Nasarawa states”, he said.
Gani said lack of seriousness on the part of the
State Government left him with no option than to
seek intervention from the federal government.

“I passionately appeal to the Acting Governor to
liaise with the police so that mobile police unit
can be stationed in Wukari due to the volatile
nature of the area.”
“As I speak with you, the acting governor has
not done anything about it and that is why the
killings have continued.”

“We are tired of making such calls. If the acting
governor is not competent enough to protect the
lives and properties of our people, he should
simply resign,” he stressed.
The lawmaker said the decision b
the acting governor not to visit the area and
commiserate with its people was, again, a clear
indication that he had no concern for the people.
“Our people are dying by the day but the acting
governor did not deem it fit to at least visit the
affected persons and condole with them.”

“Stakeholders in southern Taraba have started
reading meanings into it, and you can’t blame
them because the acting governor is not
bothered by their plight,” he said.
In a swift reaction, the Chief Press Secretary to
the acting governor, Kefas Sule, described the
allegations as baseless and unfounded.

Sule said that the acting governor had cancelled
his plan to attend a security meeting with the
President because of the security challenges in
the state.
He said that the acting governor was working
tirelessly with all the security agencies in the
state to find a lasting solution to the problem.

He also said that all top government
functionaries from the southern zone of the state
had been directed to go to the area and appeal
for calm, “now that normalcy had returned."