Tiv tribesmen in Kadarko Chiefdom of Keana Local Government Area has debunked an allegation by another ethnic group that they were non indigenes in Nasarawa State.
Emmanuel Ornguga, representative of the Tiv communities, stated this during a news conference held in Lafia on Monday.
Mr Ornguga said that a recently paid advertorial alleging that Tiv people were not indigenes but being hosted by another tribe in the area was false.
“First, it is pertinent to state here categorically that we are indigenous Tiv people of Kadarko and we have never been hosted by any tribe or group as claimed recently in a paid advertorial.
He noted that the Advert was sponsored in some national dailies by the Alamo community of Kadarko and the Gwandara of Giza.
He explained that several Tiv persons of origin had in the past represented the community in various positions and wondered why the Tivs were now being referred to as non-indigenes.
“To start with, Mr Athanasius Tyo was elected into the Federal House of Representatives in 1979 and represented this constituency in Lagos.
“The first councilor was a Tiv man in person of Mr Emmanuel Dewua in 1967. The second was also a Tiv man, Mr Innocent Ben, in 1976.
“Third was Emmanuel Kumbur, Awe local government council 1988. Fourth was William Audu, Supervisory Councilor, also from Awe Local Government Council.
“The fifth was Benjamin Agnese, Keana Local Government Council.
“All these are Tivs and nobody laid any claim. So where is this claim of the Tiv people being settlers coming from?
“Our neighbours of Kadarko and Giza, the Alamo and Gwandara claims of being our hosts is untrue,’’ he said.
He added that Tiv people of Nasarawa State had been in the state long before the former administrative divisions in Nigeria, known as provinces, and had nowhere else to lay claim to as their places of origin.
He then called on the state governor, Abdullahi Sule, to put a lasting solution to the matter and curtail the excesses of those spreading the allegation that Tivs in the area were not indigenes.
NAN
