BEVERLY HILLS, June 05, (THEWILL) – The Governor of Taraba State, Darius Dickson Ishaku, has called on the Nigerian Army to help his state has he revealed that fleeing members of the Boko Haram insurgents were taking refuge in the Bali forest area of the state thereby posing potential security threat to residents of the state.
Ishaku made this known when he received the Brigade Commander of the 23 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Yolanda, General Bello Abdullahi Mohammed, saying that the presence of the fleeing insurgents who were displaced from the Sambisa forest has led to increase in crime rate in the state.
He declared that the insurgents who fled the Sambisa forest in Borno state are now occupying the Bali forest which is equally a vast forest, adding that as a result of that, robbery, kidnapping, rape and other forms of crimes have now become a daily occurrence in all the local governments close to the forest.
Ishaku also drew the attention of the military to the increasing state of insecurity at the Gashaka Gumpti National Park which is threatening tourism in the state saying criminals have infiltrated the Park which has been attracting a lot of local and foreign tourists.
He commended the military for its role in helping to restore peace to communities affected by communal crises in the state in the past, saying that they were always there any time they were called, even in the wee hours of the night and under poor weather conditions.
He however, lamented the incessant crisis between farmers and herdsmen in the state recalling that in the past, herdsmen and farmers enjoyed a cordial and symbiotic relationship.
“Farmers wanted herdsmen to leave their cattle on their farms long enough to eat up grass and remnants of harvested crops and in the process fertilize the farms by excreting their wastes there.
“Even when the cattle ate the farmers’ crops, the matter was always amicably resolved with the herdsman paying a token compensation. These never resulted in any fight or crisis,” he said
Mohammed however assured the Governor of the preparedness of the army to assist the state in the pursuit of its agenda for peace in the state.
“Our men are always ready and willing respond any time they are called to help restore peace,” he declared.
