David Misal, spokesman of the Taraba police command, who confirmed this said Ibi’s body was discovered by some residents on Monday afternoon in Takum local government area of the state.

“His body was found this afternoon in Kashim Dira road, in Takum council. We are still working on that (any arrests and attempts to find the culprits). We will make sure that the culprits are brought to hook. So we are working.„

The lawmaker, who represented Takum 1 constituency in the state house of assembly, was whisked away by three gunmen on the night of December 31.

The gunmen had arrived Ibi’s mother’s residence in Takum, in two motorcycles that night.

Takum is also the hometown of Darius Ishaku, the state governor.

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The organisation said the governor and prominent citizens in his government “must accept responsibilities for the recent massacre of Fulani herdsmen in the Mambilla Plateau.”

While over 50 persons were on June 18 killed and about 120 houses razed in simultaneous attacks allegedly carried out on Fulani herdsmen residents in the area, over 200 cows were also said to have been killed by the attackers who invaded several villages and settlements.

The Executive Director of SHAC, Abubakar Ibrahim, in a protest letter to the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), obtained by journalists in Jos, threatened to stage a nationwide protest if justice and necessary action were not taken on the incident.

He condemned the killings in Mambilla Plateau and suggested reinforcement of security in the area to avert further loss of life.

SHAC said, “Without prejudice to what investigation of the massacre will uncover, going by preliminary information from stakeholders, the Taraba State Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku, the Speaker of Taraba State House of Assembly, Abel Diah, and authorities of Sardauna Local Govenrment must accept responsibilities for what happened. They must be told the plain truth to make them repent, pay reparation and apologize for what happened or be made to face the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“Community and traditional leaders in the area must also pay for their indifference to the sufferings of those maimed and their properties destroyed. They too must be made to keep a date with the ICC to serve as lesson to others.

“Your Excellency the Acting President, our prayers are therefore that: The attention of the nation and the entire world should be focused on what happened on the Mambilla Plateau as a way of building the consensus that ensures this does not happen anywhere else in Nigeria ever again. An investigation should be ordered into what happened to identify those that should be punished for this crime.

“Your Excellency, the Acting President receives the leadership of the Save Humanity Advocacy Centre and other human rights campaigners in a mass rally on Monday July 17, 2017 to draw attention to the need for ethno-religious tolerance in the country.”

Ibrahim asked the Federal Government to immediately provide relief materials and compensation for the affected persons.

While acknowledging Osinbajo’s prompt reaction to the unfortunate incident, SHAC said he should go beyond relief materials by setting up a panel of inquiry to unravel the root cause of the attack.

He said, “We are however at pains to bring to your attention the need to go beyond these initial reactions from Your Excellency since we know the demands of managing the affairs of a country as complex as Nigeria could soon have the tragic incident on the Mambilla Plateau pushed into irrelevance until another rude awakening exposes the culture of ethno-religious intolerance that has become ingrained in our national psyche having been actively promoted by some state actors.

“The Fulani communities in Sardauna LGA of Taraba State have called for the Acting President’s intervention in the wake of the massacre. In a nation that is being ravaged by sponsored violence by highly placed persons, the plight of these communities may not merit special attention but the concerns they have expressed about the attacks against them being an act of genocide calls for a different approach in addressing the Mambilla Massacre.

“It is a development that can complicate matters for Nigeria before the International Criminal Court since indifference from the Federal Government would be construed as acquiescence with a pogrom. A further imperative to investigate the allegation of genocide in Mambilla, Sardauna LGA of Taraba state is the domino effect that could result if nothing is done.”

The group warned that if the attack is not investigated, it would spell future disaster for the country as ethnic cleansing could become a trend that eventually compromises the corporate integrity of the country.

“The few states that once allowed the folly of ethnic cleansing on their soils are yet to get out the cycle of reprisals till date”, Ibrahim said.

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Danladi was the first deputy governor who ran on the same ticket with Governor Dantata Suntai, but was impeached shortly before Mr. Suntai took ill after an air crash.

The acting governor who was removed Friday, Umar, was appointed the deputy governor after the impeachment of Danladi and after Suntai became ill, Umar took charge as acting governor.

The acting governor has been locked in a bitter power struggle with the associates of Suntai, who insist the ailing governor has recovered enough to return to work.

In a unanimous decision Friday, the Supreme Court nullified the impeachment of the first deputy governor and ordered that he be sworn in as acting governor immediately.

Seven justices of the court agreed with the ruling, delivered by Justice Sylvester Ngwuta.

The court said Danladi was denied fair hearing and also said it was illegal for 19 members of the state House of Assembly who prepared the impeachment notice to have sat at a Guest House belonging to the majority leader.

Justice Ngwuta described the impeachment panel as a “kangaroo panel” and said that there was a conspiracy between the impeachment panel and the lawmakers.

The Taraba State House of Assembly had on October 4, 2012 removed Danladi from office on purported allegations of fraud and abuse of office.

Majority of the state’s lawmakers, 20 of the 24 members of the Assembly, had voted to uphold the recommendations of a seven-member judicial commission of inquiry named by the state’s then Acting Chief Judge, Josephine Tuktur, to investigate allegations of gross misconduct against the deputy governor.

The commission said it found Danladi guilty of the allegations of gross misconduct, while the House Majority Leader, representing Karim I Constituency, Charles Maijankai, moved the motion for the adoption of the report.

The report had said that Danladi used his office to divert Millennium Development Goals, MDG, projects to Yagai Academy, a private school, owned by him.

It also indicted the former deputy governor for using his office to influence the posting of an officer and interfering in the affairs of his Karim-Lamido local government.

The panel also said the third allegation that Danladi did not convene a meeting of the state Boundary Commission, showed his incompetence.

But in impeaching the deputy governor at the time, both the House and the commission ignored the case filed by him against the composition and membership of the commission of inquiry.

Danladi’s downfall was at the time blamed on his tenuous relationship with the governor, Danbaba Suntai, who is said have become uncomfortable with his political ascendancy and affiliations with those Suntai considered his political rivals.

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He returned from the United Kingdom after weeks of further treatment of the injuries he sustained when his plane crashed near Yola, Adamawa state on August 25, 2012.

There were rumors that Suntai was “rushed” back to the country because of the Peoples Democratic Party governorship primaries, after which he would return abroad for medical attention.

But the governor said he was not contesting the governorship primary or any election at the moment.

There were also reports that President Goodluck Jonathan paid a brief visit to Suntai at the Guest House of Gen. T.Y. Danjuma (rtd) in Abuja and later left for Aso Rock accompanied by Danjuma.

A statement by the Speaker of Taraba State House of Assembly, Josiah Sabo Kente, obtained by journalists on Saturday in Abuja named Prof. Bala Shehu as chairman.

Other members are Dr. Inusa Samaila, Prof. Peter Alabi, Dr. Shehu Sule and Personal Physician to Suntai, Dr. Ahmed Kara.

The statement reads, “Consequent upon the receipt of the resolution of the Taraba State Executive Council meeting on September 10 2014, evoking the provision of Section 189 (1) b and 189 (4) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) which requested me to appoint a medical panel to verify the health condition of the Executive Governor of Taraba State, Pharm. Danbaba Danfulani Suntai, I hereby constitute the medical panel…”

The immediate-past President of Nigerian Medical Association and delegate to the just-concluded National Conference, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, has been agitating that the association should be allowed to offer free medical investigation into the true state of health of Suntai, who was injured in the plane crash.

The NMA had also been spearheading the campaign for the establishment of the Office of Surgeon-General of the Federation.

Suntai had also accused his deputy, Garba Umar, of betrayal saying he least expected the deputy governor to lust for his (Suntai’s) office given the confidence he reposed in him.

Speaking through his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Sylvanus Yakubu, the governor said he was not the only one that felt betrayed but the entire people of the state.

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Tsokwa, the former Speaker died Monday, November 4, 2013 in a Jalingo hospital over alleged heart related disease.

However, Kente who is serving his second term in the house hails from the southern zone of the state where the late speaker came from.

Emmanuel Dame representing Ardo-Kola moved the motion for nomination of Kente as new speaker while the member representing Bali 2 Constituency, Hamanadama Abdulahi seconded it. Abdulahi described Kente as a capable member who can take the house to higher levels.

Yuhana Adaki representing Usah State Constituency was endorsed by the House to replace Kente as the Deputy Majority Leader.

In his acceptance speech, Kente promised to use his new position to end the political crisis bedevilling the state since the return of Governor Danbaba Suntai from USA where he travelled for treatment following injuries he sustained during a plane clash.

He also promised to unite members of the House of Assembly.

“My priority will be to work assiduously towards ensuring that we close ranks and not allow the enemy to further divide us because, as the saying goes, united we stand, divided we fall.

‘’It is a learning period and the entire nation is keenly observing with interest what transpired here and how we eventually resolve it politically.

“My prayer is that the lessons from this saga will teach us not to pass through the same route again. I want to assure the people of Taraba State that we shall not let them down and the matter will soon be resolved amicably to the satisfaction of all interests,” he said.

Until his election, the new speaker was Government House correspondent for Taraba State-owned television station from 1991 to 1994. He also served as the state chairman of Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, just as he had earlier served as the deputy majority leader and chairman house committee finance and appropriation.
– See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/11/taraba-lawmakers-elect-new-speaker/#sthash.Hl5RppCV.dpuf

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