March 16, (THEWILL) – The Conflict Mitigation and Management Regional Council (CMMRC) has condemned in its totality, the unfortunate crisis that erupted between Oturkpo and Obi Local Government areas of Benue state in which three persons were reported killed and several houses set ablaze.
An eyewitness account had it that some electrical poles were pulled down due to heavy downpours and stormy weather, starting from Oturkpo axis to Obi Local Government Areas, which affected the power supply for a couple of days.
It was learnt that the Ijegwu youths from Obi were alleged to have stormed and allegedly razed down houses in Ojantele community in Oturkpo on suspicion that the blackout was caused by Oturkpo Youths.
The Ijegwu youths were said to have climbed the poles to restore power supply but one of them was unlucky as he was allegedly shot dead by Oturkpo Youths. In a counter-offensive, the Ijegwu also killed two others from Oturkpo and set houses on fire.
In a chat, Jos Electricity Distribution Regional Manager, Engr Olaniyi Ogunmakinya, said electricity lines in the area were destroyed as a result of a heavy downpour a couple of days back and JED had segmented its network in the affected areas.
“When segmentation is done, some areas are allowed to have power supply while we work on other areas to restore power. We isolated towards the Oturkpo end leading to Obi local Government areas,” he said.
A statement signed by the Chairperson, Mrs Rachael Ityongughul and Co-Chair, Ahmed Baba, in Makurdi, on Thursday, quotes CMMRC as calling for calm between the two Local Government Areas to exercise caution even as it also calls for immediate action from the security agencies to quell the tension and arrest perpetrators of the ugly scenario.
“CMMRC seizes this opportunity to call on all the citizens of the State to conduct themselves during and after the gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections in the State peacefully and report any threats or a person’s action that will lead to disruption of the electoral process to security agents,” it said.
The CMMRC further advise all citizens of the State to always embrace dialogue as means of resolving their problems irrespective of the degree of provocation.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer for Benue State Command, SP Sewuese Anene, said she received information about the clashes between the two parties but not that of deaths, promising to give details at the appropriate time.
