The Senior Divisional Officer for Menchum Division, Abdoullahi Aliou, has just wrapped off his week long tour today in all the villages and communities of Wum subdivision, beginning from Bangwe right up to Upkwa.
The raison d’être of this emergency meet the people’s tour was to mitigate and preach the values of peace and reconciliation to both the Muslim and native communities of these villages, and to also ensure that there is security, especially at the dawn of another school year.
This comes as a result of four Fulani youths murdered on the night of Sunday 25 July, that led to clashes between the Natives of Aghem and the Fulani/Hausa in Wum. These clashes that continued on Tuesday brought about an impromptu security meeting between the administration and traditional rulers of both communities. The end result was the counter murder of two Aghem natives on Friday July 30.
These actions from the two communities brought about fear of the unknown and further divided a people who have leaved together for over 50years.
This trend of events prompted the Divisional Boss to meet both communities with a message of peace, reconciliation and living together. Casting blames on both parties, cautioning them to be responsible parents over their children who are most of the times at the forefront of violence.
The SDO also took advantage of this impromptu meet the people’s tour to make a clarion call to those still carrying arms in the bushes to come out and identify themselves in his office for them to be properly reinstated in the community.
The natives on their part presented a catalogue of worries, with the top most important being the constant destruction of crops by cattle grazers. The SDO responded by assuring them that henceforth, any grazer found guilty of destruction of crops will have to pay a very heavy penalty so that other will learn a bitter lesson.
By Penn Elvis Mulluh
Photo Credit: Penn Elvis Mulluh
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