By Umar Egbunu Muhammed, Lafia
Tunga community in the Awe Local Government Area of Nasarawa State has raised an alarm over high influx of some people suspected to be kidnappers and bandits recently dislodged from Rutu area in the Toto Local Government Area by command 4 Special Force Doma and illegally occupying Dangote farm land.
Our correspondent reports that recently bulldozer belonging to Dangote Sugar Refinery Company destroyed over 300 houses in Ugber village said to be Tiv settlement in Awe LGA.
The Auditor of Tunga Development Association, (TDA) Mr. Nasiru Muhammed-Tunga, who revealed this on Thursday in an interview with our correspondent in Awe local government area, described the occupants as illegal occupants of Dangote sugar plots of land.
Muhammed-Tunga, said that majority of the occupants of the vast land were strange faces settling in the company after paying compensation to the affected persons whose graves, economic trees and structures were confiscated.
He, however, debunked the claims made by some Tiv nationality resident in Awe LGA, lamenting that they were inaccessible as at the time the company paid compensation.
According to the Auditor of TDA, Tiv and Fulani were the first to be considered during the compensation process, noting that every person in Tunga community has been compensated.
He denied claims made by Tivs that over three hundred houses were destroyed by the company without any compensation.
His words: “We just woke up and see clusters of farmstead with unknownfaces, this call for alarm with the rising spate of insecurity in the land, again they occupied our land without coming through the traditional ruler, this a threat to our existence”.
Speaking on the matter, Gayam Tunga, Mr. Ibrahim Adamu, said the crisis begun during the killing of late Sarkin Azara by Tivs and fleed to unknown destination and returned to the land where there was compensation to every able settlers.
He, however, said none of those people that were returning werefamiliar faces, adding that even the graves, economic trees and structures were actually considered.
He added that petitions were written against Hakimi, Me Gayam and one other explaining that other part of the reserved land was for the community.
Amos Kyaava in an interview claimed he was not present during the assessment of compensation committee as a result of crisis which they sought for refuge outside the state.
He further said he flew in 2017, that was when the former governor of Nasarawa State Governor, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, leased the land to Dangote Sugar Company
Francis Yors from Kukunbi cluster in previous interview said the compensation was just for economic trees and structures excluding plot of land.
Julius Tasha from Orobo cluster confirmed that they were given compensation by Dangote Sugar Company.
Some inhabitants of Tunga who spoke to our correspondent in a separate interviews, applauded Dangote for the choice of Tunga, noting that thecompany has brought a lot of prospect to the community.
Investigation by our correspondent, however, indicated that barely sixthousand Tunga youth secured employment in Dangote with scores from Awe, the administrative head of Awe local government benefited from the benevolence.
Over N200 billion was earmarked for the development of the sugar company.
Narrating the ordeal of the Ugber villagers into the hands of the Dangote Sugar Refinery to our correspondent the village head, Mr.Timothy Ti’igh, claimed that the Dangote firm did not contact themabout buying the land, talk less of compensating the inhabitants to demolish their locality.
He said: “We only woke up on Thursday to see Dangote firm with bulldozer in our village pulling down our houses. We lost a total of 80 bags of rice, 43 bags of surghum, 27 bags of soyabeans, 3,000 tubersof yam and 17 bags of beneseeds in the unnotified demolition exercise.”
“The Dangote team also set several basins of our smoked fish, beds andbeddings, and other valuables in the fire they set on our houses as you can see. They snatched a bag containing some money and a handsetfrom my son and took it away,” he added.
