Alleged terrace of land: Tiv people report the governor, others in Tinubu

The Tiv people in the state of Nasarawa reported the governor Abdullahi sule and others to the president Bola Tinubu for the alleged grasping the earth.

The position of the Tiv people was contained in a letter sent to the president Tinubu for the alleged land that grabbed by the governor and others listed in it.

They thus sought his intervention in an alleged case of systemic genocide, which affects the earth and strong acquisition of ancestral lands belonging to the indigenous Tiv, orchestrated by the government of the state of Nasarawa and others.

In a rescue letter to President Tinubu dated 28 May 2025, under the auspices of the Tiv Development Association (Tida), in the state of Nasarawa, and signed by Professor Emmanuel Iornumbe Kucha, president of Interim and former deputy chancellor of the University of Agriculture (now Joseph Sarwuan University, Makurdi), The Tiv Indigens in Nasagas, a NASAWAWAWAWAWATER Stacus of the University of Joseph Sarwuan University, Makurdi) Governor Sule and some traditional sovereigns non -tiv of ancestral anncestral land in the state.

The letter was copied to the President of the Senate; President, Chamber of Representatives; Secretary of the Government of the Federation; Director for national security; Minister of Agriculture; Governor of the state of Nasarawa; and speaker, home of the state of Nasarawa.

In the open letter to the president, entitled: “Recurrent, coherent, brutal and systemic genocide and ethnic cleaning against the indigenous TVs of the state of Nasarawa with the aim of weakening and de-popular: a passionate appointment has not only an urgent intervention”, your urgent intervention has not been invoked “, your urgent intervention has not been invoked”. Taking active measures to depopulate and fully extinguish the nasarawa’s indigenous people by taking control of our lands where we lived for over four (4) centuries, which is our only source of sustenance.

“If this were to be authorized to happen, it will be the complete act of genocide since our people who are mainly farmers and who live in the villages would surely die of hunger and depression (a repetition of the episode 2000-2001 in which more than 500 indigenous tiv were killed) as they have no other source of invivence in the state of Nasarawa.”

Tida wants President Tinubu to have, among other requests, to stop the strong acquisition of said ancestral land; Establish a probe on the matter, immediately restore all the statutory garments of the TV communities; And that the tactors of the Tiv in the state of Nasarawa should be “jealously protected and encouraged for enormous agricultural activities in order to contribute with their share in the nutrition of the nation as always”.

To underline their case against the government of the State of Nasarawa, Tida said that in 2024, the governor Sule announced the acquisition and compulsory acquisition of 10,000 hectares of agricultural land “located mainly in the communities of the indigenous TVs in Too e

“The government had indicated that the agricultural regime is an initiative of the Federal Government to encourage the production of rice, soy and sorghum beans”.

The letter listed the communities affected in these areas of the local government such as Akaha, Utsuwa, Usula, Udugh (Angwan Anthony), China, Shankodi, Ikyochiha and Ayarkeke, where the indigenous TVs are the predominant inhabitants of the areas.

He said: “The boundaries of the (a) Village of Akaha, (b) Village of Utsuwa, (c) Village of Usula, (d) UDUGH Village, cover a large span of over 6,000 (six thousand) hectares of land under our area of ​​Agwatashi in the Obi local government district.

“Villages such as (a) Village of Ayarkeke, (b) Chinese village, (c) Village of Ikyochiha, (d) Village of Shankodi which covered a large pack of about 4,000 hectares in the local government area of ​​the local government in the state of Nasarawa, also sauce schools, the serious ones, economic schools, economic rooms and other infrastructures developed by the indigenous communities Over the years and the indigenous tiv of these areas that are mainly agricultural of nature and have no place to call their home if not these portions of land live in a state of panic and fear as they are at the point of permanently losing these sources of invivence.

The indigenous Tiv accused the governor of acting by mistake, claiming to have been deceived by some traditional sovereigns who are not indigenous Tiv.

They interrogated the wisdom of the governor who has not found any portion of land in the 13 LGA of the State of Nasarawa to acquire and establish this agricultural project compulsory, except the areas belonging to the indigenous Tiv.

The reason, they said, was because it was deceived by traditional sovereigns, which are not indigenous Tiv: “that the earth belongs to them and since the indigenous TVs have nobody, neither in the state executive council, in the Chamber of the Assembly nor on the bench of the State of Nasarawa, the government will not have to face any opposition, even if the farmers are displaced without any formation”.

Tida cited two documents signed by the Ogoreho of Agwatashi, dr. Umar Abubakar Apeshi, “presumably delivering our lands to the government of the state of Nasarawa in bad faith and we have a good authority that has collected compensation on the same.

“Our ancestral lands do not belong to him anyway, or the governor of the state of Nasarawa.

“The physical characteristics and facts on the ground and the documentary evidence of the British colonial government are updated to date, provide evidence of the affirmation indicated above.

“For the record, we were in these areas much earlier also of the merger of Nigeria.”

On the request for systematic ethnic cleaning and genocide against the Tiv people, Tida provided a real certified copy of the Memorandum of the district official to the division officer, the province of Lafia, dated April 6, 1933 and 5 July 1933 obtained from the national archives, which indicated that the indigenous TVs of Nasarawa had been occupied in employment, now known, Obi, Obi, Obilated, obtained from Kea, omibilated, obtained, obtained from Kea, Obili, obtained from Kea, Obilated, Obilated, obtained from Kea, Obili, Obili, obtained from Kea, Obili, Obili, obtained from Kea, Obia, Obili, Obdivi, obtained from Kea, Obia, who obtained the national archive, which indicated the national archives, which indicated that the natives indicated Tiv were the occupation and areas of the local government of Lafia of the state of Nasarawa since 1830.

He said: “Yet your excellence, our ancestral lands are brought away to each date at each given opportunity without compensation and in some cases the compensation paid to some other people, and when we complain, we are told by people that the same story shows only the state of Nasarawa in the 80s, which we are not indigenous despite the detention and resident of about 1830”.

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