By Sam Tyav, Makurdi
Tivs in the nation’s capital,Abuja, have raised the alarm over they described as a systematic campaign of displacement, identity erasure, and institutional marginalization against the communities of their kith and kin in Southern Taraba, North-East Nigeria.
Under the umbrella of Taraba Tiv People’s Association (TATIPA), Abuja chapter, they lamented that Tiv people have been displaced from over 280 villages with over 300,000 of their kinsmen affected in the process.
These were contained in a statement signed by a member of Board of Trustees (BoT) of TATIPA, Orbee Uchiv, and made available to journalists in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.
A conservative estimate put the general population of the Tivs nationwide at above five million, with credible reports tagging them Nigeria’s largest single minority ethnic group.
Indigenous Tivs are found in Nigeria, with a few speakers in Cameroon. Most of the language’s Nigerian speakers are found in Taraba, Nasarawa, Plateau, Cross River, Adamawa, Kaduna, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with Benue State being their main homeland, where Paramount Ruler of the global Tiv nation, His Royal Majesty the Tor Tiv dwells, from time immemorial.
TATIPA, according to the statement, decried the alleged continued eviction and violent attacks targeting Tiv settlements in Wukari, Ibi, Donga, and Takum Local Government Areas (LGAs), calling on the Federal Government (FG) and the international community to intervene in what it termed a “grave humanitarian crisis.”
The group insisted that Tiv people are not settlers in Taraba State,as their nativity is well-established by historical records and colonial documentation, describing attempts to push them out of their ancestral lands, with their towns being renamed, as part of a deliberate ploy to erase their identity.
The statement recalled names of Tiv communities in Taraba State allegedly so renamed to include Dan-Anacha to Kwararafa, Peva to Chanchanji, and Ayu to Tsokundi.
TATIPA also condemned the alleged failure of successive administrations in the state to implement the recommendations of various peace committees, despite the protracted nature of the Jukun-Tiv conflict, which re-escalated in April 2019.
According to the group, the Tiv people in the state have been denied traditional recognition and political inclusion for decades, pointing out that while other ethnic traditional rulers in the state have been elevated to first class status, Tiv traditional institutions have remained stagnant for over 100 years.
He noted that out of over 18 Tiv village heads that were officially recognised as far back as 1923, not a single one has been upgraded to a district or chiefdom level, lamenting that Tiv people in Taraba State have remained excluded from the State’s Traditional Council.
Meanwhile, Tiv monarchs have handed Fulani killer herdsmen terrorizing Benue State 10 days to quit their (Tivs’) indigenous areas without further delay.
The ultimatum expires before the end of May, 2025.
The Tiv Area Traditional Council also requested Benue State Governor Hyacinth Iormem Alia to provide an enabling environment for the herders’ peaceful exit from farmlands in Tiv kingdom to create room for resumption of farming activities, Benue being Nigeria’s food basket.
The resolution came during the council’s emergency meeting on Wednesday in the palace of the Tor Tiv in Gboko, Benue State.
A statement by the Special Assistant to the Tor Tiv on Media and ICT, Freddie Adamgbe, said the monarchs directed political and traditional rulers in each LGA of Tiv kingdom to peacefully engage the herders to ensure their exit to allow farming activities resume.
According to the statement, the council meeting, which was chaired by the Tor Tiv himself, HRM Professor James Ortese Iorzua Ayatse, “equally appealed to all herders in Tiv kingdom in Benue State to vacate all Tiv lands before the end of May 2025 to allow farmers return and cultivate their farms in order to avoid the looming hunger in Nigeria.”
The statement said that the council came up with a communique signed by its Secretary, Mr Shinyi Tyozua, after it deliberated particularly on the security situation in Tiv kingdom.
The council listed the communities worst affected by killer herdsmen’s violent attacks to include those in Kwande, Katsina Ala, Logo, Ukum, Guma, Makurdi, Gwer West, Gwer East and Buruku LGAs.
The traditional rulers lamented that farming activities in the kingdom have ceased due to the occupation of farmlands by herders for grazing coupled with attacks and killings of farmers, who were forced to flee.
It warned that if the situation continued, it will ultimately result to hunger in Tiv kingdom in particular and Nigeria generally.
