By Our Reporter
Tiv people of Benue State under the aegis of Tiv Rebirth Network has kicked against plans by their paramount ruler, the Tor Tiv, HRH James Ayatse, to honour Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike and his Sokoto State counterpart Aminu Waziri Tambuwal with Tiv titles.
In a press release issued at the end of their meeting in Gboko town, Benue State, they alleged that the monarch had embarked on a “mission to honour members of the PDP (the party’s platform he contested senatorial seat in 2007) with Tiv traditional titles.”
Chairman of the communiqué drafting committee, Dr Dondo Edward Tizah and secretary, Mr Ade Tombuwua, who signed the statement on behalf of 56 others, said, “Plans have been completed to confer the title of Nyamkyume Tiv on Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom along side, Wike and Tambuwal.
“Our paramount ruler knows the implications of the vicious division amongst the Tiv elite,” adding that the scenario will rob the state at large of “several benefits.”
The group said it had appealed to the Tiv Traditional Council with a view to prevailing “on its chairman, the Tor Tiv to follow the path of honour and unity by shunning skewed counsels that will further exacerbate divisions and tension in Tiv land.”
The Tiv Rebirth Network said the ongoing militia killings in the area should have moved the Tor Tiv to engineer a process of seeking genuine solution to them.
“But to our surprise His Royal Majesty has been very quiet about this while lives are lost on a daily basis,” the group said.