By Terna Chikpa, Jalingo
The Ichen community in Donga local government area of Taraba state on Monday declare that the move by governor Darius Ishaku to site the headquarters of the newly created Buban district to Mararaba Sabon-Ginda against Lagos-Buban which is the original headquarters of the Buban clan was a threat to security.
The community led by the chairman, Ali Janya Samuel in press briefing in Jalingo, explained that Lagos Buban was the original ancestral headquarters of the Buban clan so, siting the district headquarters of Buban in Mararaba Sabon-Ginda would be an error capable of sparking crisis among the Ichen people.
“The public may wish to know that all Ichen clans, including the Buban clan are traced to particular geographical locations which share common close boundaries with one another. For example, Buban as a clan has its Ancestral origin at a village called Lagos-Buban which is located some kilometers off- Baissa road within Gayama District. This particular autonomous village is the best place to cite the Buban District headquarters for justice and fairness. This will encourage them to develop and maintain their heritage like any other Ichen clan.
“We commend governor Darius Ishaku for creating the Buban District in the Ichen land however, the proposed situation of the district headquarters to Mararaba Sabon-Ginda is in error. We wish to advise the governor to for the interest of peace in the Ichen land, situate the headquarters of the district to the original headquarters of the Benye people which is Lagos- Buban.
“There are indications of attempt by haters of peace to mislead governor Darius Ishaku, on the siting of the Buban District Headquarters. This is coming with elements of verifiable facts that a handful of Buban community residing in Mararraba ( Sabongida), the headquarters of Benye District has commenced construction of District palace, indicating the possibility of siting the headquarters of the newly created Buban District in Mararraba -Sabongida.
“If this is true, Mararraba -Sabongida, would be the headquarters of two different Districts, an act which if allowed to see the light of the day has the potentials of plunging the entire Benye District and its neighborhood into chaos and serious security threats. The risk associated with any attempt to do so is grave, to say the least.
“We want to use this medium to call on all genuine lovers of peace and supporters of the governor to advise him accordingly. Frankly speaking if this piece of information of a proposal to site the newly created Buban District headquarters in Mararraba is something to go by, we are afraid the people who are advising Mr governor are playing sycophancy and do not love him nor mean well for the state and particularly the Ichen land.
“For clarity and avoidance of doubt, Buban community is one of the numerous small communities Benye District plays host to, including all the Ichen clans, the three major ethnic groups and many other minority tribes in Nigeria.Therefore the impression that Benye District is marginalizing the Buban community is an all-time fallacy and misleading and must not be accepted or taken seriously by anyone standing for peace and justice.
“We wish to informed the general public that this singular attempt of trying to mislead the governor to designate Mararraba, the headquarters of Benye District as the headquarters of another District is dangerous to our long peaceful coexistence. We equally call upon the relevant security agencies like the Nigeria Police, the DSS, etc, to investigate this and make necessary recommendations that will ensure the sustainability of the existing peace.
“We believe the Taraba State government would not intentionally incite crisis except when acting on a misleading information supplied by those who are not comfortable with the moment of peace being enjoyed. Election is by the corner and any acts capable of threatening our peaceful coexistence is also capable of frustrating the efforts of the government for peaceful and smooth elections and transition”The community declared.
