Arrest of Taraba village head, 4 others raises tension

Tension is mounting on the Mambilla Plateau in Sardauna Local Goverment Area of Taraba State following the arrest and detention of a village head and four others by the police in Tamnya village.

It was gathered that angry youths numbering about 200 from Tamnya Village trooped into Gembu, headquarters of the Local Government, on Friday to forcefully secure the release of the arrested persons only to discover that the men had been transferred to the state police headquarters in Jalingo.

The crisis started about two weeks ago when some prominent politicians from the area allegedly influenced the Chief of Mambilla Dr. Audu Baju to depose Waziri Ahmadu as the village head of Tamnya and replace him with one Usmanu Mbonso.

It was further gathered that this development triggered crisis as the youths of the village resisted the removal of Waziri Ahmadu and the imposition of Mbonso as the new village head.

Two days later, the Divisional Police Headquarters in Gembu sent its men to Tamnya to pick up the village head and four others who were alleged to be behind the protest and later transferred to the state command headquarters in Jalingo. The angry youths who went back to their village disappointed allegedly threatened to cause crisis if the arrested persons were not released.

Alhaji Umaru Sanusi, a relation of the village head, accused the police of conniving with some prominent politicians from the Mambilla Plateau to cause disaffection among the people of the area.