The Tiv Development Association in Nasarawa State has condemned claims made by the Alago Ikweyi Gbayi Development Union, AIGDU, against its appeal to the Federal government in the wake of the massacre of over 200 natives of Yelwata in Benue State.

Expressing disdain, the Tiv group alleged that AIGDU appeared to be celebrating the genocidal murder of innocent people without regard to the emotions of the affected community.

A statement by Professor Emmanuel Kucha, the Acting President of the Tiv Development Association in Nasarawa State, insisted that the words of AIGDU do not represent the voice of the Alago nation, known for peace and communal living.

Recall that during President Bola Tinubu’s condolence visit to Benue, the Tor Tiv had alleged that the Tivs in Nasarawa were being oppressed and their lands taken away. He had claimed that the killings were not farmer-herder clashes but genocidal land grabs.

But following the Tor Tiv’s appeal to Tinubu to address the matter and save his people, AIGDU released a statement claiming the Tivs do not have ancestral lands in Keana, Obi and Awe LGAs.

However, the Tiv Development Association in Nasarawa State has now debunked those claims, insisting that the lands in question were given to them by their forefathers.

The statement partly read, “It is puzzling that whilst the state government is acquiring our land compulsorily for a purported agricultural purpose, it is the Alago Nation that has become the mouthpiece of the Executive Governor of Nasarawa State and the only ethnic group supporting this clearly unlawful action and injustice against the Tiv Nation.

‘‘We must make it abundantly clear without mincing words that the lands in question were deforested by our forefathers and passed on to us from generation to generation and the allegation that they belong to the Alago Nation is not correct. That explains why the Alago Development Association is supporting the mass and compulsory acquisition of the same by the government.

“We have chosen not to join issues with the Alago Development Association, because we believe that we are brothers and stand to gain more by fighting this injustice and ensuring that our lands are preserved. Our brothers should note that, if this injustice against the Tiv nation is allowed to stand, no farming community in Nasarawa State is safe, including their own ancestral homes and farmlands.

“The Alago Nation is trying to rewrite the history for selfish reasons which are in bad taste. The ADA is being economical with the truth by distorting our collective history. However, the Tiv Development Association (TIDA) will always stand by the truth which has being in existence over these many years.

‘‘We do not have any dispute with the Alago Nation, and will not be dragged into one, we only mentioned specific individuals who have continued to play a part in the injustice against our people.

“We believe that the Tiv and the Alago Nations have a common history. They have fought together side by side against injustice and they stand to gain more by standing together and speaking with one voice against this manifest and colossal injustice.”