Faith Awa Maji, Lafia
Minority Leader and Chairman, House Committee on Public Complaints, Petitions and Security of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Hon Danladi Jatau, has assured the peoples of Karmo and Kurudu communities of Toto and Nasasawa Local Government Areas of the state of the committee’s readiness to resolve the land dispute between the two communities for the interest of peace and development.
The committee has also resolved to summon the chairmen of Toto and Nasarawa Local Government Councils to make some clarification in order to ascertain the owner of the land.
Jatau, speaking through the Deputy Chairman of the committee, Hon Umar Tanko Tunga, who doubles as the Majority Leader of the House, gave the assurance during a meeting with the leaders of the two communities of Karmo and Kurudu at the House of Assembly Complex in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, on Monday.
Tunga said that ascertaining the owner of the land would not only bring peace to the two communities but will enhance unity, understanding and development in the areas and the state in a whole.
According to him, the committee has received a petition from Karmo community of Gadabuke in Toto Local Government Area that their lands have been captured by the District Head of Kurudu in Nasarawa Local Government Area.
‘We have invited both of you to tell us the truth on the land dispute between your communities,’ he said, addressing the leaders of the communities.
He said the House Committee on Public Complaints, Petitions and Security will investigate and come up with acceptable resolutions aimed at an amicable and permanent of settlement of the dispute.
‘We will carry out a thorough investigation on the said land and come out with our findings with the view of finding a lasting solution to the land dispute between your communities,’ he said.
He then directed the District Head of Kurudu to stop work on the farmland pending the conclusion of the committee’s investigation as he urged the people of the two communities to embrace peace and tolerate one another for the sake of the state development.
The House Leader also warned that the House would not allow any community or communities to breach the peace of the state.
Earlier, Mr Wakili Ajiya, the leader of Karmo community, said that the community had petitioned Kurudu community for taking over its farmland by the District Head of Kurudu.
He appealed to the House committee to intervene on the issue to ascertain their claims in order to avert an unwanted crisis between the two communities, saying that they are peace-loving people and would not like to take the law into their hands.
Responding to the claims, the accused District Head of Kurudu community, Alh Tanimu Alkali, insisted that the land in question belongs to his community, not Karmo.
‘The land in question is in my district Kurudu, Nasarawa Local Government Area, not in Gadabuke, Toto Local Government Area.’