Speaker of Taraba State House of Assembly, Hon. Josiah Sabo Kente, who represents Wukari I constituency, in this interview, bares his mind on the Wukari crisis and the way out.

BY JOHN MKOM

WHAT are your views over the recent crises that engulfed Southern Taraba state ranging from communal to religious crises?
Honestly speaking, I am very sad in view of the renewed crisis in my area, not once, not twice, not even thrice; this is the fourth time that this crisis has taken place defying all efforts been put by the state government to put a stop to it.

It is also very sad that the people who are brothers and sisters who have lived together for very long have decided to carry arms against one another in the name of religion and tribe. It is very unfortunate that in this 21st century people still behave this way taking lives of human beings like chickens.

Wukari has enjoyed so many projects and establishments that ordinarily would have turned the town into a centre of economic activities in Taraba State but unfortunately because of the renewed clashes in the area, most of these economic centres have been affected. Education activities and programmes are being tampered with people living in fear. We have a lot of orphans here and there and this is very unfortunate because Wukari is a viable area in terms of economy and it is also the political nerve centre of Taraba State.

What do you think is responsible for the recurring clashes?
If I tell you that these are the immediate or remote causes of the Wukari crises I will not be telling you the truth because one will look at the issues from a lot of angles which you may not understand.

Political element

Is it political? What is the political element in the crisis? Is it tribal? What is the tribal element in the crisis? Is it economic? What is the economic element in the crisis? Is it religion? What is the religious element in the crisis? In the same family you find Christians and Muslims and people belonging to different parties but they live together. So I find it very difficult to explain, but no matter what the causes are it very important and very necessary that we must put aside our differences and continue to live in peace with one another. That is the only basis we can experience any development in that area.

Acting Governor Garba Umar recently initiated a peace agreement between the warring parties in Wukari and you were a signatory to the peace agreement. Can we say the state government failed in its responsibility?

No! In fairness to the state government, it has done its best in the implementation of the peace agreement signed in Wukari. One of the conditions in the peace agreement is the state government was going to assist those who suffer loses during the crisis.

Peace committee

To the best of my knowledge, the state government has set up not only the peace committee but also a sub-committee that will cater for the return of those who fled their homes as a result of the crisis.

As the sub-committee was set up, the central peace committee has been monitoring the implementation of the peace agreement and part of the agreement was fulfilled to ensure that those whose families were affected are engaged. The infrastructure that was destroyed are been replaced. So the state government virtually honoured the peace agreement.

The Wukari crisis is more of family against family as you just mentioned. What would you say should be done to ensure lasting peace among the people?

We observed that youths are the most useful tools in terms of violence and have seriously been used in these crises.
Therefore, the state government said use the local government SURE-P programme to arrest the youths through employment and it was introduced. So I will say the implementation of the local government SURE-P programme was a serious means to stop youths’ restiveness.

So if you ask what step do I think should be taken to address the issue and restore peace, I will say if we as human beings accept to tolerate one another, learn to live in peace with one another, I respect your opinion you also respect mine that is the only way peace would return.

Secondly, let our leaders exert their powers. What continue to bother me are the sources of arms used each time such crisis erupts. A control mechanism should be put in place to check the inflow of these fire arms otherwise it will be very difficult to control the situation.

There have been constant investigations over the causes of this crisis. Who do you think is fuelling the crisis?

To be honest with you nothing of that nature has come to my knowledge but you know during such occasions you will hear so many rumours and propaganda from many people. There will be a lot of suspicions that this or that person is behind the crisis.  A lot of stories are being told but honestly nobody has ever come to me with a genuine proof that this person has a hand in the crisis.

How did the recent Wukari crisis start?
I was in the church for Sunday service when someone called me and told me that Wukari was on fire again and up till now as we are talking nobody can tell me that this was the reason behind the crisis.

I am devastated and very sad that this thing is happening in my own area after all the efforts by the state government and stakeholders from the area. I cannot quantify the efforts and sacrifices I personally put in place to make sure that peace reign supreme in that area but unfortunately all the efforts by the state government, religious bodies and individuals have not yielded any positive result. We will reach an agreement today the next day the problem will continue.

We had situations where we held security or peace meetings in the afternoon and in the evening the same people that participated in the meetings go and carry out the crisis. This shows that we must display a high sense of responsibility to end the crisis. I want to plead with my people that for God’s sake let them lay down their arms to give peace a chance. I was looking at Wukari that in the next five years, we should be the economic centre of the state but that can happen only when there is peace.