Taraba Lawmaker, Kidnapped Last Year, Found Dead

Taraba Lawmaker, Kidnapped Last Year, Found Dead

Taraba State has been thrown into mourning after the body of abducted lawmaker, Hon. Hosea Ibi representing Takum II, was found on the road in Takum local government, days after herdsmen struck in the state.

Abductors of the lawmaker who was kidnapped on Saturday, December 30, 2017, in his hometown, had demanded a ransom of N75 million.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr David Misal, who confirmed the incident said the lawmaker must have died about three days before his body was discovered.

The State Police Command had earlier confirmed Ibi’s abduction by unknown individuals on December 31, 2017, in Takum where he was to usher in the New Year.

This is coming after the Governor of Taraba State, Darius Ishaku, said any blackmail and propaganda employed by cattle breeders to turn themselves into victims will fail, saying the herdsmen are the killers and not victims.

Ishaku statement is coming on the heels of the comment by his Benue State counterpart, Samuel Ortom, that the claim by the herdsmen that some state governments were arming militias to attack them was a lie.

Recall that the National Secretary of MACBAN, Usman Ngeljarma, who spoke for the group in Abuja on Sunday said;

“It is no longer hidden that some state governments are sponsoring ethnic militias against our people, recruiting and arming locals to kill our people and rustle their livestock as seen recently in Benue and Taraba states.”

But the Taraba State governor, who spoke through his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Bala Abu, said the Miyetti Allah was trying desperately to turn the truth upside down.

“The people who were given mass burial were not the Fulani. National television stations and newspapers published the story. No single Fulani man was killed; instead, they (Fulani) were the killers.

“I challenge them to come out with evidence against the governor that he is training ethnic militia against the Fulani. They should also name the location where the training is taking place so security agencies can move in to effect arrest.

“We are aware of their plot to stop the implementation of the Taraba State Open Grazing Prohibition Law which is due to commence soon, but the governor won’t be deterred in his quest to bring peace to the state,” he said.