By Peter Duru

A Tiv farmers group under the aegis of Association of United Farmers of Benue Valley, AUFBV, have called for the release of 394 corpses of Tiv farmers allegedly killed by a militia group in neigbouring Keana Local Government Area, LGA of Nasarawa State.

The appeal was made on behalf of the group by its President, Denen Utsa, when he led a delegation of AUFBV members to the home of Ter Tyoshin, HRH Daniel Abomtse in Naka, Gwer West LGA of Benue state.

Utsa explained that the murdered farmers were killed by the assailants between June 2024 and January 2025.

The AUFBV President stated that the group received information from security agencies in June 26, 2024 alerting them of “a communal clash, and Tiv farmers, mostly Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, were allegedly attacked in their homes by Alago militia armed with various weapons. And several persons were killed, others injured, and many remained unaccounted for.”

The farmers urged the Ter Tyoshin to add his voice to the call “for the release of 394 corpses of Tiv farmers killed by the militia in the attacks in Keana LGA of Nasarawa State between June 2024 and January 2025.”

Responding, Chief Abomtse expressed grief over the plight of Tiv farmers in Nasarawa state and urged for the release of the corpses of those that lost their lives in the crisis.

The monarch said “I appreciate the leadership of the AUFBV led by Denen Utsa. Your narration is quite heart-rending. If all what you said is the true reflection of what has befallen the Tiv people in that state, then our collective faith in the Nigerian nation project is shaking.”

Recalling the marginalization of the Tiv people, Chief Abomtse said “the Tiv people have become an endangered specie in the Nigerian project. Our lives no longer count. Our human existence is no longer measured in terms of livelihood.

“We do not have any other place to lay hands on our land. Why should we get new arrivals who are now given preferential treatment over those who have lived here from time immemorial?”

The monarch appealed to the Federal and state governments as well as prominent Tiv sons to step into the matter and put an end to the tormentation the Tiv tribe within and outside Benue State.

He said: “We accommodate non-natives in Benue and even make them traditional rulers. Why can’t we have the same treatment in Nasarawa and Taraba states? This bias and resistance to fair representation must end. No one lives forever, and no one is subhuman. We must discard acts that are counterproductive.”

Vanguard News