Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, and one of his predecessors, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, have called on Afo people to shelve the lingering discontents and consequent killings in the area forthwith.
The two leaders said Afo Nation has potential to lead other parts of the state with the natural resources at its disposal, but noted that the area can never develop in an atmosphere of rancour and disharmony.
They spoke in separate interventions during Afo Youth Summit on peace and security, organized by the Nasarawa Peace and Prosperity Project Through Law (NAPP-LAW), which was held in Keffi, headquarters of Keffi LGA.
LEADERSHIP had reported that a fresh wave of crisis in Mararaba Udege community in Nasarawa Local Government Area had led to death of two persons with many houses and properties destroyed.
The incident which came a few months after a similar one led to the death of five persons, including the village head of Ebbe Oka, and displacement of many people.
In his address at the occasion, Sule urged parties in the conflict to embrace peace even as he warned that his administration will deal with troublemakers if peaceful overtures fail.
He said it was embarrassing that brothers who have hitherto coexisted peacefully now resort to violence and killing of innocent people.
“You are blessed with resources. Everywhere people are talking about processing lithium. It is an embarrassment to the nation. We are having two brothers fighting each other and they are killing innocent people among them. You can not allow political differences to make you disrespect your leaders,” he said.
He said his administration will not leave any stone unturned in the quest for peace to return to Afo land.
While highlighting the various efforts put in place by his administration to address security challenges in the area, including the establishment of a military base, construction of the Mararaba-Udege-Agwada road, amongst others, Governor Sule however threatened to deploy tougher measures if they people fail to reconcile their differences and to embrace peace.
“I am begging you in the name of God to reconcile your differences and leave in peace. As a Governor, it’s my responsibility to start by begging, by pleading, by appealing. If all that does not work, we will apply force. Because it is our responsibility to maintain peace in the area. We will apply force if everything else does not work. Because we can not afford to keep going like this over and over,” he appealed.
He urged participants at the summit to serve as trainers for other youths in order to cascade down the message of peace and reconciliation among the Afo people.
Senator Adamu on his part, blamed some elites of the area for refusing to key into all the efforts being made to broker peace in the areas affected by the crisis.
“When this was happening, efforts continued to be made by people who thought they had the voice and they had the image to advice. But somehow we didn’t see the desired result. There are people who are part and parcel of this community who have had the privilege of service to the community and the state and who up to this point in time, we have not been able to get them to join the efforts for looking for peace in that community,” he said.
He, however, challenged the youths to embrace peace for the development of the Afo Nation.
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