Inter-Communal Clash: Tinubu Sends Peace Delegation to Plateau
By Hajara Abdullahi
The Federal Government, in its bid to foster peace and inter-communal harmony, has dispatched an emissary led by Dr. Abiodun Essiet to Plateau State on Thursday.
This was disclosed in a statement on X (formerly Twitter) by the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Sunday.
According to Onanuga, Dr. Essiet, who serves as the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement for the North Central Zone, spent two days in the state where she held a town hall meeting with Miyetti Allah community leaders and Christian clerics in Jos.
“The meeting involved delegates from various local government areas, traditional rulers, women, and youth leaders who discussed ways to strengthen community-based peace structures aimed at promoting peaceful coexistence among diverse communities,” the statement read.
Onanuga added that Dr. Essiet paid a courtesy visit to one of the leading voices of the Christian community in the state, Reverend Ezekiel Dachamo, Chairman of the Regional Church Council (RCC) in Barikin Ladi, where discussions centered on faith-based leadership and its role in promoting peace, unity, and social development.
“She addressed some widows and conveyed President Tinubu’s message of fostering ethnic reconciliation in the state,” Onanuga stated.
Dr. Essiet also met with Fulani leaders in the Barikin Ladi community to promote dialogue and understanding between pastoral and farming communities.
The statement further revealed that she conducted a workshop on establishing a community peace structure across the 17 Local Government Areas in Jos, where she held a closed-door meeting with members of the Irigwe community, the Miyetti Allah group, and representatives from the Youth Council of Bassa LGA. The workshop focused on how the 17-member peace committee could strengthen dialogue, reconciliation, and coexistence between both communities.
“Dr. Essiet reiterated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s unwavering commitment to peace and inclusive governance, noting that the Community-Based Peace Structure serves as a key instrument for grassroots unity, dialogue, and long-term stability in the North Central region,” the statement added.
The meeting reportedly yielded immediate results by resolving a conflict between David Toma, owner of Agha Farm in Gyel District of Jos South, and some herdsmen. Toma had earlier seized two cows after his farm was destroyed.
The MACBAN Chairman in Bassa LGA, Alhaji Isa Yau, on November 15, paid N500,000 as compensation to Toma, who in turn released the cows. Through the delegation’s intervention, both parties signed an undertaking to embrace peace as a necessary path toward coexistence.
