The Tiv ethnic group has withdrawn its participation to tender memorandum or offer testimony before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up by the Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku.
This followed objections raised by the counsel representing the over eight million Tiv population in Taraba which were overruled by the Justice Kumai Bayang Aka’ah led commission.
Governor Ishaku had asked the commission to look at the remote and immediate causes of the clashes between the Tivs and neighbouring communities in Taraba who have been in ceaseless conflict for decades.
This has led to the death of thousands of persons and the destruction of properties worth millions of naira, with travellers sometimes caught in the web of the crisis.
The crisis has led to several peace meetings to find a lasting peace between the warring parties, some of which were attended by Governor Ishaku and his Benue State counterpart, Samuel Ortom.
In his search for a peaceful resolution to the rampant clashes between the Tivs and other residents of the state, especially those in the southern and central zones, the Judicial Commission of Inquiry is the latest effort adopted by Governor Ishaku.
While inaugurating the commission, the governor said the setting up of the commission would be his final effort in a quest for peace between the warring factions.
At a resumed sitting to submit a memorandum and allow for testimonies by affected residents, counsel to Tiv ethnic group, Sebastian Hon, argued that the commission should stay proceedings, saying they have already filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to restrain the commission from sitting, pending the determination of the suit.
He also raised an objection on the instrument setting up the commission that, ‘The Tiv and Neighbouring Communities’ as a title, was indicting and discriminatory.
Sebastian wondered why only the Tiv people were mentioned without specification on who the opponents were, insisting that they cannot be fighting themselves.
He said, “We are withdrawing; we do not have confidence in the Judicial Commission of Inquiry because right from the instrument setting up the commission to its terms of reference, the Tiv people have been profiled and isolated.
“The commission of inquiry is supposed to name the parties, but it only named the Tiv people and its neighbours. So that is discriminatory and contrary to Section 42 of the Constitution and it is also a ground towards breaching the fundamental human rights of fair hearing on the Tiv people”
“The terms of reference also delve into criminality, or does it mean that the Tiv people that are named are the troublemakers?” the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said.
He insisted that they have no confidence in the commission and prayed the commission to adjust the sitting date pending the hearing of the suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, stay proceedings for the same purpose, decline jurisdiction continuously, or recuse itself by avoiding conflict.
In his submissions, counsel to the Jukun Traditional Council, Abdul Ibrahim (SAN) disagreed with Sebastian’s submissions, insisting that the commission was duly constituted.
In his ruling, Justice Kumai Bayang overruled the submissions made by Sebastian, saying they were clear ambush of the proceedings.
He added that no order was issued from the Federal High Court in Abuja stopping them from sitting.
These declarations by Justice Bayang forced the counsel to the Tiv to withdraw from further tendering memorandum and testimony.
The public hearing has been rescheduled to hold on Wednesday for taking memos and cross-examination of testimonies.
It has 90 days, starting from July 13, to submit its report.
