Community leaders call for peace among Benue’s warring villagers

Community leaders drawn from two local government areas of Benue State have called for peace among warring OpaAdoka community in Otukpo and neighbouring Jor-Naka community in Gwer West areas of the state.

The leaders, who attended the meeting, included traditional heads, political figures and youth officials from the two areas.

Benue/Plateau Chronicle reports that the two communities clashed over a land a few days ago which left two people dead.

That led to a series of meetings by prominent members of the communities to find a solution to the confrontation.

They called on the aggrieved persons among the affected communities to sheath their swords and give room for reconciliation.

The Special Adviser to the State Governor on Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Barr. Ken Achabo Atam, during the latest meeting, commended the peace building efforts of the Chairman of Otukpo Local Government Council, George Alli and his Gwer West counterpart, Mrs Grace Igbabon to ensure calm returns to the communities.

The Ter Nagi, Chief Daniel Ayua Abomtse, in his address gave a historical background of the long, cordial relationship between the people of Jor and Opa prior to the unfortunate misunderstanding which snowballed into a crisis that claimed the lives and properties of some people in the area.

Abomtse, therefore, called on government to carry out a thorough investigation with a view to finding out the actual cause of the crisis and prosecute the perpetrators to serve as deterrent.

Also speaking, the Ad’Otukpo, Dr. Samuel Onu, corroborated the position of his

Naka counterpart.

He condemned the resort to violence by youths from both communities and called on them to always embrace peace and dialogue in resolving their differences.

The Otukpo Council Chairman, Alli and his colleague from Gwer West, Igbabon, in their separate speeches, also sympathised with the victims and condemned the violence.

They also called for the immediate demarcation of the boundary between Opa and Jor to prevent further hostilities and possible bloodshed.