Resettle displaced Tiv indigenes to their ancestral home – Clerics urge Taraba Govt

By DOMINIC AKPENSUEN, Jalingo –

A senior clergy  from Christian Reformed Church of Nigeria,  Rev. Joseph Ajaver, has appealed to Taraba State Governor, Agbu Kefas,  to protects  the displaced Tiv people and return them to their settlements.

Rev. Ajaver made the call in his new year massage when speaking with Journalists in Taraba State .

The cleric said, the crisis between Tivs and  Jukuns  in Taraba State is a  brotherly fight that cannot be treated on the basis of enmity or politically.

He stressed that the Tse Ajaver’s compound, which was  destroyed and burnt down completely  in Wukari Local Government by enemies during the crisis is where he buried his elder brother Late Baba Tsegba Ajever  who was born in the land and died at the age of 105 years.

The cleric, further, explained the relationship between Tiv and Jukun is cordial  as both tribes intermarry among themselves.

Rev. Ajaver who married a Jukun woman from Donga Local Government Councils and bless with many children, said he took the bull by the horns by visiting all  the 14 Chiefdoms in Wukari to build peace among the worried tribes.

Another clergy,  Rev. James Terkimbir  of Biblical Reformed Church of Christ For All Nations, Wukari, said he has been in exile for six years since the communal crisis.

He stressed that the governor is  a God fearing leader, who is also a pastor, should  use his position and return the displaced Tiv people to jointly support his administration to strive.

The fifty years old clergy said he owns nine children and many siblings to care  for  and lives in apartment that they barely survive a three square meals in a day.