TEXT OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE BY MR PHILIP TATARI SHEKWO, CHAIRMAN, ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS, NASARAWA STATE CHAPTER, ON FRIDAY, 21 NOVEMBER, 2014 AT LAFIA. Gentlemen of the Press. Events of the last one month and last few days have called for concerted efforts from all peace loving people of Nasarawa State towards calming frailed nerves and finding lasting solutions to the intractable security challenges facing our dear state, particularly the Southern Senatorial District. As we mourn or dead and provide succour to the distressed and displaced ones, actions and utterances that will exacerbate the crisis must be avoided by all well meaning individuals, no less, institutions and organizations. Attempts to politicize these conflicts in the past has not yielded any positive impact nor has it addressed the real issues involved. It is in the light of this that we address you today in order to put records straight and correct the jaundiced impression created by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in their Press Conference yesterday in Abuja! PDP will prefer to rule their state in Abuja as is their stick in trade. Little wonder that they lost the state due to their tendency to alienate themselves from the people that voted them. Gentlemen of the Press will recall the various security challenges that engulfed our dear state since it creation. We will not forget easily the Igbira/Bassa, Tiv/Alago/Hausa, Afo/Fulani, Tiv/Fulani conflicts between 1999 to 2007. You will also recall the Tiv/Fulani, Fulani/Agatu, Fulani/ Alago conflicts that led to monumental lass of lives and property during the PDP Government of Aliyu Akwe Doma. You have not forgotten quickly that this Government inherited the Tiv/Fulani, Tiv/Agatu and Fulani/Agatu conflicts that engulfed the entire Nasarawa/Benue border communities in 2010 and 2011. Neither have you forgotten the Joint Peace efforts engineered by this Government and that of Benue State in finding lasting solution to the inherited conflict. This state had hardly settled down from this conflicts than a murderous cult unleashed such mayhem and pogrom on the innocent communities of Assakio, Agyatagu, Odobu, Obi, Iggah, Kwandare, Bassa and lately Assakio, Daddare among other communities. You will recall the climax of Ombatse murderous campaign in the gruesome killings of over 75 Security personnel at Alakyo village in Lafia LGA. Recall that while all peace loving citizens were condemning the activities of Ombatse militia, the PDP were rather concerned about scoring cheap political capital by accusing Government of consorting with the Ombatse and imputing internecine political conflict involving the Governor and Senator Solomon Ewuga. They accused Government of sponsorship of the Ombatse even when everything is pointing to the contrary. We have observed since the loss of the State to the APC, the PDP has not lost any opportunity to accuse Government of one imaginary crime or the other. Most of them frivolous, false, mischievous, criminal and political. We had, in all instances, clarified our position and exposed their machinations. Yesterday, again, the PDP continued on the same path of calumny and misrepresentation by criminally accusing the Governor and Government of importing mercenaries to kill and destroy houses in about 25 communities in order gain unduly in the 2015 election. We find this charges very grave,serious and condemnable. As a political party that have governed this state for twelve years and in control of the Federal Government, we expect some maturity in their utterances rather than these reckless unguarded ones that smacks of criminal libel and insensitivity. We wonder whether it is the Federal Government that has imported mercenaries to cause such wanton and widespread mayhem on the north eastern Nigeria. That is by the way. Is the Governor and Government of Nasarawa state now the sponsors of Ombatse and the imported mercenaries that have caused mayhem on the Alago/Mighili/Gwandara/Bassa/Fulani on the one hand and lately on the Eggon? The PDP on the one hand rejects the claim that the conflicts are ethnic in nature and in another breath asserts that the conflicts are aimed at political ethnic cleansing. When the Eggon Omabatse killed and destroyed Alago, Mighili, Gwandara, Bassa, Fulani communities it doesnt qualify as an ethnic conflict. When the Fulani attacked and killed Agatu, Tiv, Alago etc its not ethnic conflict. When the Fulani attacked and killed Eggon Communities it becomes political ethnic cleansing. We are at a loss at PDPs reasoning and agenda in describing the nature and colors of these conflicts. We are neither holding brief for the Ombatse nor the Fulanis for all of them are a murderous militia that all peace loving people should pray for their elimination. All ethnic groups in the Southern and Northern Zones have been affected by the mayhem perpetrated by these two bloodthirsty militias. We condemn their actions and call on all and sundry to join hands with Government and security agencies to halt their murderous campaigns and bring them and their sponsors to justice. We have also observed that the PDP have certain intelligent information that can help halt this mayhem. We urge them to avail security agencies these intelligence if they genuinely want to assist in bringing an end to these conflicts since they know where these Mercenaries are camped. It is doubtful if PDP will hearken to this call as their antecedents in that pat has shown that they are only interested in making wild unsubstantiated allegations. All peace meetings convened by this Government have been ignored by the PDP lending credence to the view that they may be foisting the conflicts in the first place in order to turn round and blame government for failure to arrest the conflict even when they know that security agencies are under the control of the PDP Federal Government. Now to the political accusation of conniving with INEC. Alas, the cat has been let out of the bag! It is said that when the owner of the land is slow to catch the thief,the thief calls the owner of the land thief. Typical of their stratagem,PDP is relying on a misrepresented byline on Channels TV to make this accusation. It deliberately ignored the main story which quoted the State Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, as saying only 30% of the Permanent Voters Cards have been supplied and thats why the distribution in the state was rescheduled. The Governor never made any such remark. Perhaps PDP should enquire from the State Channels TV reporter for confirmation. We would not be drawn into this ignorant rantings. The Local Government election has come and gone and this state did what no PDP state has done since the advent of the fourth republic: an opposition party not only won Chairmanship and Councillorship seats but were sworn in. As a law abiding party aggrieved with the outcome in some LGAs, we challenged it in the various Election Tribunals. While the APC was diligent in prosecuting their case with credible evidence, PDP we busy whipping sentiments and maligning the Judicial officers entrusted with the task of resolving the petitions. Were APC to act like the PDP Governments in other states, perhaps all LGAs would ab initio have been declared ad won by APC. We leave other aspects of PDP rantings for the Judiciary and NASAIEC to deal with. A drowning man hangs on to anything and unfortunately the drowning PDP are hanging onto the judiciary and the Governor for their self-inflicted woes. We remain committed to the pursuit of peace denied our dear state by agents of retrogression and desperate politicians who will stop at nothing to ascend to political heights,even if they will walk on the blood of innocent citizens. Thank you for listening and may God restore peace in Nasarawa state.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 17:53:01 +0000
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