Tiv group blasts Solomon Semaka for apologising to Miyetti Allah

A Tiv group under the aegis of Gboko Indigenous Youth Association, GIYA, has faulted the award giving to the Benue Chapter of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore by a group led by one Mr Semeka.

Below is an excerpt of the press release;
SUMMON SEMEKA IN 24 HOURS OR BENUE YOUTHS SHALL RISE AGAINST THE TRADITIONAL INSTITUTION.

Gboko Indigeous Youth Association, wishes to condemn in strong terms the recent outing by a faceless group led by one Mr. Solomon Semaka during their visit to Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore.

GIYA decries the utterances of Mr. Semaka who in his desperate attempt to gain what ever kind of favour from the group went overboard to tarnish the image of the entire Tiv Nation.

For a group who had demanded Benue land and a repeal of the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law, 2017 as a penance for peace, one would wonder if in the quest of seeking peace from this same group, he Semaka has also agreed to relinquish Benue lands to them or repeal the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of Benue State.

It is clear to every sane person that Semaka does not have the powers to surrender Benue land or repeal the laws prohibiting open grazing in Benue State.
He also does not have the authority to speak for the Tiv people.

Less than 24-hours after Semaka’s purported peace meeting and apology to Miyetti Allah,not less than eight people have been killed in Makurdi and other part of Benue State by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

It is highly irresponsible, insensitive, callous, and reckless for Semaka’s delegation to term the Governor’s stance on the path of truth as lie despite the glaring evidence of the carnage done on Benue farmers by militia herdsmen, which has led to the death of over 2400 persons between May 2013 to April 2018, destruction of property worth over N500 billion, and made over 800,000 IDPs.

Semaka’s unguarded statement exposes him as a desperate man who can sell his birthright for a meal of pottage.

It behooves on all of us as a people to dispel irresponsible conducts and utterances as no one knows when and who is next to be swept away by the current wave of herdsmen attacks in the country.

We call on the traditional institution to barnish Semaka within 24 hours, failure to do so we shall mobilize the entire Benue youth against the traditional institution in Benue State, as the matter at hand bothers on the security of our lives and property, which we have already lost more than enough.

Comr. Isaac Mtom
National President
Gboko Indigenous Youth Association ( GIYA)