Geoffrey Anyanwu, Awka
The Igbo living in Taraba State have ran to the Igbo apex organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and the South-East governors to save them from the attacks from Hausa-Fulani.
They have also called on the duo to urge Governor Dairus Ishiaku of Taraba State to ensure the security of lives and property of Igbo in his state.
The people who through one of their leaders, the Eze Igbo Dan-Anacha, Gassol local government, Taraba state, Chief Ozor Joseph Ezeh, had addressed Ohaneze on the their ordeal in Taraba state alleged periodic attack on them by the Fulani.
According to the Igbos in Taraba, all the attacks on them have been unprovoked, and led to looting of the property and in most cases burning down of their shops, in presence of security operatives without and caution or arrest, just as the state government has allegedly remained unconcerned about their plight.
Narrating their ordeal he said, “On Sunday being 3rd of June, 2018, the Fulanis went to Dinya community and attacked the people there who are Tivs but during a gun battle that ensured, the Tivs had upper hands and they retrieved.
“On Monday they entered another community, Dan-Anicha and regrouped and teamed up with the Hausas there and started rioting around 6am till about 5pm when the situation became uncontrollable.
“At this point they began to break into shops owned by Igbo indigenes and were carting away their goods.
“What surprised everyone was that the SARS people came fully armed, the mobile and conventional police came there fully armed and the army also came fully armed but they did not make any attempt to stop these people from looting the property of the Igbo.
“They just parked themselves one side and were watching these attackers braking into the shops and looting our people’s property without making arrest. The worse is that these people carried these property they were looting and crossing before them and the security operatives did nothing but were just there as if they came to give them coverage to carry out the looting operation.
“All the shops inside Dan-Anicha park belonging to Igbo indigenes were looted and majority of the shops burnt and along Bornu Kurukuru road all the shops belonging to Igbo indigenes there were looted and the shops burnt and the security operatives were all around watching them do all that without taking any action.
“This attack on Ndigbo there started by 6am on Monday and ended 6:00a.m., on Tuesday, without any interruption by the security operatives who were present.
“This is not the first time this kind of thing is happening, on October 13, 2001 they carried similar attack on Igbo and on November 20, 2017, the same Fulani people had problem with Tiv people and they (Fulani and Hausa) pounced on the shops of Igbo people and looted them without any interruption by the security operatives.
“On that day they attacked me physically, gave me machete cuts and turned my house upside-down and burnt down all my shops and ruined my business.
“We have come to make this report officially to Ohaneze Ndigbo and the South-East Governors because the Taraba State government has continued to ignore our reports and petitions to it as it has not made any effort to stop these attackers or arrest any of them.
“It has not also made any effort at consoling the Igbos or gives them relief for their means of livelihood that were taken away forcefully from them.”
Ezeh said the development has made them to ask some questions as to the hope of the Igbos in the state and whether the Governor does not consider them as Nigerians.
“Our question is, is Igbo not part of Nigeria that the Governor of Taraba state both old and present refused to do anything concerning what the Fulani and Hausa people are doing to Ndigbo in the state?
“We are asking Taraba State Governor, Dairus Ishiaku, what is the hope of Igbos in your state? We are pleading to him to consider the plight of the families that their shops were looted and burnt and render assistance to them so that they can start life again if indeed we are one Nigeria.
“We want the Ohaneze Ndigbo to intervene and reach the Governor Ishiaku and ask him if he does not want Igbos in his state?”