Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has raised alarm that the bloody ethnic clashes between Tiv and Jukun has made journey on Wukari-Katsina-Ala highway dangerous and suicidal for motorists and commuters.
It confirmed that hostilities between the two tribes have led to the death of hundreds of people and that, from all indications, the two warring parties are still agitated and are reluctant to hold peace talks.
The umbrella body of Christians in Nigeria observed that travellers who belong to either tribe are frequently arrested on each end of the road, killed or set ablaze, citing the case of a Catholic priest of the Jukun tribe who was murdered in August on the stretch of road.
Related: Slain Fr. David Tanko laid to rest amid emotions
CAN President Dr Samson Ayokunle, in a statement released in Abuja on Thursday by his media aide, Pastor Bayo Oladeji, appealed to the two warring ethnic communities to end the crisis and give peace a chance in order to attract infrastructure and human capital development to their land.
“The majority of Tiv and Jukun are Christians and ordinarily one would have expected them to come together in unison and resolve their differences, no matter how bitter they are, as commanded us by Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace,” the statement reads.
“Apart from this, we are aware that the two tribes are inter-twined because they exist side by side and have for a long time intermarried and share other things together.”
The CAN President urged Tiv and Jukun traditional and community leaders to, as a matter of urgency, convene a peace conference involving all relevant stakeholders with a view to finding lasting solutions to the interethnic feud.
He further disclosed that, “as a body, CAN is making serious efforts behind the scenes with the Federal and Benue and Taraba state governments on how to reconcile the two factions at a peace parley soon.”