Elders raise alarm over land grabbing in Taraba

Elders and Mambilla Communities Worldwide have cried out to the authorities over alleged moves by some ethnicities to grab their land on the Mambilla Plateau axis of Taraba State.

The elders, in a statement on Monday in Abuja, by one of their leaders, Mr Hamanjoda Gitaru Nyiwa, said they were not pleased with the development.

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The elders wondered why the state government chose to ignore the reports of an earlier commission and administrative panels which defined Maisamari as part of the historical Kamkam territory.

The elders said, “Why would the governor want another (third) investigation on the same matter when he had two previous reports on the same status of Maisamari?

“A Judicial Commission of Inquiry and an administrative Committee had both investigated and reported to him.

“This third attempt…is obviously an attempt to rubbish the two earlier investigations. If we are looking for a third ‘real status’ what do we call the previous two?

“We are suspicious of these endless investigations, especially as so much anti-Mambilla hate comments in the last few years have come from that crisscrossing figure claiming to be the best ally and his associates.”