The Nasarawa State Government has started experimenting with a new peace strategy to stem the frequent clashes between Tiv farmers and herdsmen on the boundaries between Nasarawa and Benue states.
This has become imperative as the wave of violence in recent time has been causing the Nasarawa State Government sleepless nights.
At a meeting between Governor Al-Makura and the Tiv communities, the Governor said that each tribe must proffer solutions to the current crisis, but also shared his views on the best ways to end the crisis.
“(We must) properly identify areas where people are in distress, identify how we could resettle them back; thirdly to also consider ways and means of having lasting peace and security.
“It’s a pity that the nature of the settlement of the Tiv is so dispersed because of the nature of the vocation that the average Tiv man engages on – Large scale farming.”
The Governor emphasized the need to get the warring groups back to their bases to recover their farms and other sources of livelihood as a major step in dousing the tension.
He also noted that if these people do not go back to their farms, there were higher risks of having food scarcity in the region.
The meeting which took place at the Government House, Lafia, the state capital, had in attendance, traditional rulers and other groups of Tiv extraction.
