Wole Ayodele in Jalingo
The Taraba State House of Assembly has described a documentary on last June’s crisis on the Mambilla crisis which has gone virile on social media as an orchestrated campaign of calumny against the reputation of its Speaker, Abel Peter Dish.
Besides, the assembly in a statement signed by Baba Jen, Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Speaker, stated that the documentary was not only absurd but a mischievous ploy by a faceless group to cast aspersions on the personality of the Speaker in a bid to score cheap political point goals.
The statement titled: ‘Mambilla Genocide Documentary: A campaign of calumny against Hon Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly,’ accused the producers of the documentary trying involve the Speaker in the unfortunate incident by presenting visuals and narration in which lay braze unverifiable claims.
Insisting that the faceless group behind the documentary obviously takes delight in the crisis and the attendant suffering of the people of Sardauna local government even as they continue to fan the embers of ethnic disunity in a bid to cause further chaos.
“We particularly observed that the social media is of recent awash with series of brief video titled ‘Mambilla genocide documentary’ in which the producers presented visuals and narration in which lay brazen unverifiable claim to the Speaker’s involvement in the unfortunate crisis that bedevilled the Mambilla plateau in recent times.
“This is not only absurd but a mischievous ploy by a faceless group of persons who obviously delight in the crisis and the attendant suffering of the people of Sardauna local government as they continue to fan the embers of ethnic disunity and cause further chaos.
“It is rather unfortunate that the producers of the video mischievously extract a brief part of the Speaker’s comment during the plenary sitting of the Assembly 10th June, 2017 while concurring to the submission of a member of the assembly representing Nguroje constituency, Bashir Mohammed.â€
Giving a vivid account of what transpired at plenary on the day in question, the statement noted that B Mohammed, while contributing to a joint motion moved by representitives of Ussa, Takum I and Takum II on the need to set up a committee to visit Takum and Ussa to assess the situation following herdsmen attack in the area prayed that the scope of the committee’s work, which was chaired by Charles Maijankai be extended to Nguroje in Sardauna Local Government.
Mohammed, according to the statement had stated that there is an ‘incubating crisis’ in Mayo Sina which if not nipped in the bud could degenerate into a bigger crisis and was unanimously supported and passed by the House after the Speaker had lend his voice to Mohammed’s additional prayer.
Baba Jen however challenged the producers of the documentary to circulate the entire contributions of members and the complete remarks of the Speaker during the sitting to allow the discerning public understand the truth of what transpired adding “simply using a part of the video to depict the negative is not only misleading but an act of cowardice.â€
