Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
The paramount ruler of Kona people of Taraba, Chief Augustine Njenmang, has appealed to the Federal Government to rehabilitate victims of the recent herdsmen attacks on Kona communities in Jalingo and Ardo Kola local councils in the state.
Njenmang made the appeal, Saturday, while interacting with newsmen in Jalingo on the farmer/herders crisis in Kona, a suburb of Jalingo Local Government Area of the state.
The monarch decried the devastation occasioned by the crisis, noting that the displaced people were living in deplorable conditions on camps and could not go back to their farms, as herdsmen continued to lay siege to their lands.
He, therefore, stressed the need for early rehabilitation of the victims to their places of origin to avoid impending food crisis in the area and the state at large.
He said: “Our people are itching to go back to continue with their economic activities, but the attackers are still killing people. We have lost 64 people to the crisis already. It is regrettable that they continue to stay in camps because this would cause food shortage in the state.”
While calling on the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to expedite action to provide relief materials to the people, he urged the Federal Government to provide “unbiased security to enable the people return home to continue with their lives”.
Commending church based organizations for supporting IDPs with food and other relief materials, the traditional ruler appealed to other well meaning Nigerians to also assist the IDPs.