Tiv professors under the aegis of Aytutu Professors on Saturday appealed to the Federal Government to adopt a community-driven approach to end the lingering security challenges in the country.
Professors Tor Iorapuu and Simon Irtwange, Chairman and Secretary of the Board of Trustees & Council of Management for Ayatutu Professors, made the appeal in a statement in Makurdi.
The group strongly condemned the ongoing killings in Benue and other parts of the country by armed invaders and their sponsors for purposes of displacing the locals.
They also condemned the invaders’ well-orchestrated design to grab land; disrupt the economy, the culture and the education of the people and mine minerals among others n Benue.
The professors acknowledged that the efforts of various tiers of government had not yielded the desired outcome of protecting the lives and property of the Tiv people and Benue citizens in general.
“There is the need for community approach to security and self-help, but it must be within the framework of careful post-conflict management of its complexities.
“There is a need to mobilise and organise our people to defend their lives, land, and the future well-being of their children.
“We must defend ourselves against ambitious land grabbers working in cohort with some power-seeking, disoriented, ambitious but self-centred politicians and traditional rulers,” they said.
The forum called for the expansion of the role of the Benue State Bureau of Homeland Security to include farming communities’ protection.
They also recommended an annual levy of N1,000 for all taxable adults in Tiv land and Benue in general for the funding of the activities of the renamed Bureau of Homeland Security and Farming Communities Protection.
The professors encouraged the Tiv and Benue people to remain focused and united.
“The era of the attitude of a community for itself is gone. The longer we journey on the road to unity, the more the sense of belonging grows and deepens.
“This is the only way we can collectively challenge and fight this deliberate but unprovoked humiliation.
“The forum encourages Gov. Hyacinth Alia of Benue and all the paramount traditional rulers to keep their focus on this uncomfortable cross.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the group is for all full professors of Ayatutu (Tiv) extraction worldwide.
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