Findings
by Vanguard revealed that the fear by the Eggon-speaking natives of the
state that Governor Alhaji Tanko Al-Makura, is planning to renege on
his pledge to serve for only a term of four years, triggered the lethal
onslaught.
Competent government sources confirmed to Vanguard,
yesterday, that Governor Al-Makura was interested in a second term
although he had served notice in 2011 to do just four years and hand
over to an Eggon politician, since the area has never tasted the
governorship seat in the 16 years of the state’s existence.
According
to findings, Eggon, which are mostly Christians and constitute the
dominant ethnic race in the state, are found in all the LGAs of Nasarawa
State but they feel politically marginalised by successive
administrations.
The latest attack by the Ombatse, which is said
to have emerged as a ‘private army’ to protect the political and social
interests of the Eggon, was believed to have been carried out to send
“appropriate message” to the governor that the ‘Eggon time has come’ to
take over from him.
Senator Solomon Ewuga, an Eggon politician,
who backed Al-Makura to emerge as governor on the Congress for
Progressive Change, CPC, platform in 2011, said in an interview that it
was wrong for the governor to repudiate on his vow to serve only a term
and give the chance to an Eggon.
According to the lawmaker,
“These are the very people who have voted consistently in every election
to support or remove one government or the other. The present governor,
Al-Makura, is a beneficiary of Eggon vote and not their violence,” the
lawmaker pointed out.
“The governor told me he wanted to come
back for a second term but I reminded him of his promise to do just one
term but he asked me if we had an agreement he was going to hand over to
me and I said no but that he had promised the people to do a term
during and after his inauguration”.
2015 linked to attack
It
was not clear last night what steps the Federal Government was planning
to take against perpetrators of the evil act apart from the retirement
of the DSS director in the state and the redeployment of the police
commissioner.
The police authorities, however, assured that
killers of the policemen and the security operatives would be brought to
justice. Force Spokesman, CSP Frank Mba “investigation is on-going, we
are unwavering in our commitment to finding the killers and bringing
them to justice”.
The Federal and Nasarawa state governments have
paid N2 million to each of the families of the slain policemen and
security agents.
Further finding showed that there were fears
that going after the cult group could spark more trouble in the state
and alter permutations for the 2015 poll.
It was learnt that the
opposition in the state was keen on fielding an Eggon candidate in the
next election to oust governor Al-Makura from office.
It was
learnt that those opposed to the governor’s stay in office beyond 2015,
were seriously considering tapping Senator Ewuga to defect from the CPC
and join the PDP, which has strong followership, so as to recapture the
state.
Alternatively, the anti-Al-Makura camp, is said to be
looking in the direction of Labaran Maku, the information minister, to
challenge the governor in the next gubernatorial contest.
But Al-Makura has defended himself, saying that he has invested immensely in Eggon and should be appreciated.
However,
the Chief Priest of Ombatse, Chief Ala Agu, has blamed the governor for
the attack, saying that the governor never called him for dialogue
before sending troops to kill him for no just cause.
Agu denied killing the policemen, saying that his god killed them before arriving Eggon.
“When
the security men came and because they were drunk, my god did not allow
them to come to me and they died on the way,” Agu said.
The
Director General of the Department of State Service, Mr. Ita Ekpenyong,
said last week that the service had forgiven those who killed 10 of its
men during the failed attempt to uproot the Ombatse cult group last
month. Ekpenyong spoke at an event to honour the dead security men in
Abuja.
President Goodluck Jonathan had also mentioned the
Nasarawa pogrom in his state of emergency address to the nation but did
not say if any action would be taken to challenge the cultists.
The
menace of age reduction almost started in the Nigerian civil service
where most workers try to stay longer in service after clocking the
retirement age of 60 or 35 years in service. 
