Kogi Communal Crisis: Traditional Ruler Tasks FG, State Govt
Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja
Following the incessant attack and reprisal in Bassa communities, traditional ruler, the Shaba of Mozum, Alhaji Haruna Abubakar, has called on the federal and Kogi State Governments to as a matter of highest urgency, take decisive steps to end the ongoing ethnic crisis bedevilling Bassa Local Government Area of the state.
This was contained in a statement made available to journalists in Lokoja yesterday, even as the royal father equally enjoined the state government to release the political and traditional leaders of the area detained as a result of the ethnic crisis between the Bassa women and Igbirra Mozum communities.
He explained that the incarceration of the Chairman of the local government area, Mallam Muhammed Muktar Shuaibu; the Aguma of Bassa, Chief William Keke; the Ohiogba of Mozum, Alhaji Khalid Ali Bukar; the House of Assembly member representing the area, Hon. Daniya Ranyi and President of Mozum Cultural and Development Association, Mallam Abubakar Mohammed, has further led to a total breakdown of law and order in the area.
Abubakar, who is next in the hierarchy to the paramount ruler of the Mozum kingdom, further revealed that on Saturday, the Bassa women militias invaded the Mozum community three times, pointing out that the incessant attacks had led to the death of one Mohammed, even as many houses were been razed down in the community.
He maintained that the government should act fast in halting further bloodshed in the area by releasing the affected leaders without further delay, stressing that their arrest has only escalated the crisis, rather than solving the problem between the two affected ethnic groups in the local government.
Abubakar further posited that the government cannot continue to sit by and watch the crisis degenerate, pointing out that since the method employed by the government has not stopped further bloodshed in the area, another approach should be adopted to forestall further loss of lives.
