Taraba Govt Accuses APC of Instigating Violence as Normalcy Returns to Jalingo

Taraba Govt Accuses APC of Instigating Violence as Normalcy Returns to Jalingo

By Wole Ayodele in Jalingo

The Taraba State Government has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state of instigating the violence that trailed the gubernatorial election in the state with the aim of portraying the election as not credible.

This is coming just as the state government disowned the unnamed aide of Governor Ishaku allegedly arrested by the Department of State Security (DSS) for being in possession of 350 permanent voters cards (PVCs) saying no aide of the governor was involved in such a dastardly act.

Following the declaration of governor Darius Ishaku as winner of the election, armed youths and miscreants had carried out series of attacks on thousands of people that trooped to the streets to celebrate his victory.

In separate press statements read by the state’s Commissioner of Information, Simon Dogari and the Senior Special Assistant to the governor, Bala Dan Abu in Jalingo yesterday, the state government noted that the intention of the masterminds of the violence was to create tension and anarchy in Jalingo and the entire state in order to discredit the election.

According to Dogari, “the intention of those who lost election was to create tension and anarchy in Jalingo and the entire state such that the impression would be created in and outside Taraba state that the elections was not credible.

“The state government is happy that this motive has not been achieved and we give credit to God and to all the good people of Taraba State who have ignored the call to arms and have helped to defuse tension rather than yield to the temptation of reacting violently.”

The commissioner also wondered why someone who lost at the polls descended so low to give a religious colouration to the violence that greeted the declaration of Governor Ishaku as winner of the governorship election.

“It is disheartening that someone who is aspiring a high position of leadership of this state will resort to religious bigotry to achieve his ambition”

Expressing gratitude to the people of the state on behalf of the state government for maintaining decorum, he assured them that the state government would continue to ensure and guarantee the security of lives and properties of the law abiding people of the state.

The state government has also disowned the unnamed aide of Ishaku purportedly arrested by DSS for being in possession of 350 PVCs saying the report was a cheap blackmail that further confirms that DSS is not impartial in the politics of the state.

Insisting that no aide of the governor was arrested with PVCs, the SSA to the governor maintained that what the DSS did was more like a hatchet job as he wondered why the security agency would chose not to name the person arrested.

“No aide of the governor was arrested for being in possession of PVCs. Why didn’t they name the person involved? What DSS did only goes to confirm that they are not impartial in the politics of Taraba state which is quite unfortunate”, Dan Abu stated.

Meanwhile, normalcy is gradually returning to the state capital after days of violent attacks that claimed several lives and properties despite the fact that the curfew imposed on Jalingo is still in force.

Business activities is gradually picking up as most businesses that were hitherto closed down in the wake of the crisis have reopened for business while social activities are also gradually coming back to life.

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