2027: Nyameh returns to PDP, declares bid to unseat Kefas

 

By Godwin Agia, Jalingo

A former governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Taraba State, Prof. Jerome Nyameh, has returned to the party months after his resignation and declared his intention to contest the 2027 governorship election.

Nyameh, who had earlier left the PDP citing unresolved internal crises, said his decision to return followed recent developments indicating that the issues had largely been resolved.

He made this known while addressing journalists in Jalingo on Saturday.

The professor noted that he had completed his PDP e-registration, urging residents of Taraba State to also register, assuring that the platform is secure.

He expressed confidence in his chances, vowing to unseat the administration of Governor Agbu Kefas and restore what he described as the state’s lost glory.

"By God’s grace, I will contest for the governorship of Taraba State under the platform of the PDP in 2027. I have completed my PDP e-registration membership," he said.

"Following the judgment delivered on the 9th of this month, it is clear that the issues within the party are almost resolved. The court advised parties to settle out of court, and that is a welcome development. That is why some of us who left have now returned."

On his chances at the polls, Nyameh said the adoption of direct primaries would favour candidates with grassroots support.

"I will definitely win because I am with the people. With direct primaries, popularity will count," he added.

He also called on Tarabans and residents of the state to take advantage of the PDP e-registration exercise, reiterating that the process is safe and credible.

Community-Led Peace Initiatives Offer Hope Amid Decades of Farmer-Herder Conflict in Taraba State

 

Jalingo, March 21, 2026

In the villages of Maihuda and Tordamisa, something quiet but significant is happening. Farmers and herders — communities that have buried their dead after decades of deadly clashes — are sitting together to talk.

After years of violence that has claimed thousands of lives and destroyed livelihoods across Taraba State, local communities are no longer waiting for government to bring peace. They are building it themselves.

A Crisis Measured in Lives and Harvests

The scale of destruction from Nigeria's farmer-herder conflict is staggering. According to Amnesty International, at least 3,641 people were killed across the country in farmer-herder clashes between January 2016 and October 2018 alone, with over 2,000 of those deaths recorded in 2018. Taraba State was among the worst affected, including the 2018 violence in Lau Local Government Area that killed approximately 73 people and razed dozens of villages.

The conflict has multiple drivers — historical ethnic tensions, competition for land, weak justice systems, and governance failures. But experts increasingly point to climate change as a critical aggravating force. Erratic rainfall, prolonged dry spells, advancing desertification in northern grazing areas, and disrupted seasonal migration are pushing herders further south into Taraba's farmlands, earlier in the year and for longer periods. The result is an intensifying collision over shrinking resources that no fence or patrol can fully contain.

Farmers and Herders Choose Dialogue

In Maihuda community, Bali Local Government Area, farmers and herders have established a peace committee dedicated to promoting coexistence and managing disputes before they turn violent.

At the committee's inauguration, the leader of the Fulani community in Taraba State, Mafindi Umaru Danburam, commended the grassroots initiative and outlined the committee's core mandate: mediation, early reporting of incidents, and ensuring accountability when rights are violated.

"When communities take ownership of peace, it lasts longer than any agreement signed in a government office," Danburam said.

Across the state in Tordamisa, Donga Local Government Area, a similar committee has taken shape. At a community meeting, Zaki Teh Tiv, a prominent leader among the Tiv people in Taraba, urged residents to act early — reporting tensions before they escalate into bloodshed.

"We have seen what late intervention looks like. It looks like funerals," he said. "We must report, we must talk, before we reach that point."

Government Welcomes Grassroots Action

The Special Adviser to Governor Agbu Kefas on Farmer-Herder Relations, Bello Mbela, welcomed the community-led committees, describing them as a critical complement to state-level efforts.

Mbela identified a structural gap that these committees directly address: the absence of trusted local actors in rural communities capable of detecting tension early and responding before violence erupts.

"One major reason this crisis has persisted is that early warning stops at the local government level. It never reaches the village. These committees change that," he said.

Climate Adaptation as Peacebuilding

For the peace committees to succeed over the long term, experts and community leaders say structural support is essential — including training in conflict mediation, access to early warning information on weather patterns and herder movements, the establishment of designated grazing reserves and stock routes, and the promotion of climate-smart agricultural practices such as irrigation and drought-resistant crops.

This last point is increasingly urgent. As long as climate change continues to compress grazing seasons and shrink available land, the pressure that drives herders onto farmlands will persist regardless of how many committees are formed.

In Taraba State, the communities of Maihuda and Tordamisa understand this. They are not naive about the scale of what they face. But they have chosen, against considerable odds, to try.

As COP31 approaches in Antalya later this year, their quiet efforts serve as a reminder that climate adaptation and conflict prevention are not separate challenges. In the Middle Belt of Nigeria, they are the same fight.

Howai District Calls for Support as New Security Post Takes Off in Kpantinapo

 

By Thomas Samuel 

Residents of Howai District in Kona Chiefdom have been urged to support the newly established security outpost in the area.

The District Head of Howai, Michael Vakkai, made the appeal in an interview with our reporter in Jalingo.

He disclosed that the district recently commissioned a hunters’ security office in Kpantinapo, describing its location as strategic in supporting the military to contain potential security threats.

Vakkai noted that the hunters require both moral and financial support from residents to function effectively.

On investment and job creation, the district head commended Governor Agbu Kefas for introducing policies that facilitated the siting of a waste management and processing company in Kpantinapo.

He expressed optimism that once fully operational, the company would create jobs and contribute to the government’s efforts toward environmental sustainability.

Bandits Kill Three Police Officers, Vigilante Leader in Taraba Attack

 

Thomas Samuel 

The Taraba State Police Command has confirmed the killing of three police officers and a local vigilante leader following a deadly attack by suspected bandits on Tse Kwe Village in Donga Local Government Area of the state.

According to a statement issued by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Victor Mshelizah, the incident was reported by a resident, Zaki Orbanga, from Tordamisa Akate Ward, who alerted authorities to the invasion of the community by armed assailants.

The statement said a joint team of police officers, led by the Divisional Police Officer of Donga alongside operatives of a special force unit, was swiftly mobilized to the scene to restore order and protect residents.

However, the encounter claimed the lives of three officers identified as Corporal Raphael Danjuma, Police Constable Ebenezer Daniel, and Police Constable Samuel Bawa. Bawa was initially declared missing during the operation before his body was later discovered in a nearby bush after a search effort.

The attack also left a sixty-year-old community vigilante leader, Nutsa Tyav, dead. He was the Chairman of the Vigilante Group in Tordamisa Village.

Reacting to the incident, the Commissioner of Police, Betty Enepen Isokpan  expressed deep sorrow over the loss of the officers and the vigilante member, describing them as heroes who paid the ultimate price in the line of duty.

The Command extended condolences to the bereaved families and assured that the sacrifices of the deceased would not be in vain.

Meanwhile, the police said security has been reinforced in the affected area, with intensified operations underway to track down and apprehend those responsible for the attack.

The Command also called on residents to remain calm and support security agencies with credible information to aid ongoing investigations.

TSU ASUU Strike: Gov Kefas approves N500m

By Godwin Agia, Jalingo 

The Taraba State Governor, Dr Agbu Kefas has approved  N500 million for the Taraba State University Jalingo.

The State Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Dr Mike Dio Jen, made the position known while interacting with Newsmen in Jalingo on Monday.

According to the Commissioner, Dr Agbu noted that the additional N300 million is in addition to the previous N200 million he had earlier approved last week, totalling N500 million. He pleaded with the Academy Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call off the strike to enable the institution to resume its activities.

Dr Mike explained that, "The governor inherited the salaries of about two years, Earned Academic Allowance and Administrative Allowance for the non-academy staff amounting to over four billion (4,000,000,000).

"On the 12/3/2026, the governor after meeting with the union leaders approved the sum of over N3billion and immediately gave approval for N200,000,000 be released to them, and assured ASUU that starting from April N100,000,000 monthly will be releasing to settle the backlog of the demands of this union and today he approved additional N300,000,000 upfront that will covere the month of April, May and June respectively.

"In assumption of office, he assured them that he was going to pay and the government paid over one billion N1,000,000,000 for now, and we entered into an agreement with them that contains other demands that bother the welfare of Academy and non-academy staff ranging from the issue of lack of promotion for academy staff, nonpayment of salary and their promotion areas.

"Immediately we came on board we sworn into action, they were Seven demands brought by the academy union and the non-academy staff union, and all the seven demands were discussed and solved, five of them were completely settled, then the two major demands that were left is the issue of pension and gratuities, payment of backlog of salary areas and the EAA and AA. When the governor came in, he proved the point of agreement where two hundred million was released to them, and there was an agreement that the government will release the sum of N50 million monthly until such a time that the entire thing will be settled.

"Be it as it may, the situation we have in this country the income or resources at the disposal of the government is not consistent, its fluctuate, even what we get from the federal account is not consistent and there are competing demands, look at insecurity, it is consuming the resources we have in the State.

"When the government slashed the school fees by 50% which is the main revenue, the government decided to take over the entire payment of salaries which was Three hundred and Eight million (308,000,000) per month to Six hundreds and thirty seven million, eighteen thousand four hundreds and fourthy four naira, ninety seven Kobo per month because of the implementation of the new minimum wage which is the highest paid institution in the northern Nigeria," he said.

Highlighting some of the governor's achievements in the university, Dio noted that, Dr Agbu Kefas had earlier spent over N2b for the renovation of the hostels and N400,000,000 was expended for the building of the new hostel in the institution also gave approval of over N1.43b was given to release for the accreditation of courses in the six higher institutions in the state.

Dry Season That Never Left: How Changing Rainfall Patterns Are Pushing Herders Into Taraba Farmlands

 

Jalingo, March 14, 2026

By Thomas Samuel 

For generations, farmers and herders in Taraba State managed to coexist by following nature's rhythm a wet season for planting, a dry season for migration. That rhythm is now broken.

Communities around Jalingo are grappling with a new and dangerous reality: unpredictable rainfall has erased the clear boundary between seasons, shortening grazing windows in the north and pushing herders southward earlier, longer, and increasingly in conflict with farmers still on their land.

The result is a collision of climate stress and human survival one that is quietly fuelling some of the deadliest violence in Nigeria's Middle Belt.

Seasons Out of Order

Mallam Usman Garba has farmed yam and maize in the Ardo-Kola area for over two decades. He remembers when the seasons were dependable.

"In the past, rains started reliably in April and lasted till October. We harvested and the herders came after," he said. "Now the rains are late and irregular. Last year we had dry spells of two weeks even in the middle of the rainy season. My crops dried up in patches. When the herders arrive early with their cattle, they eat everything before we can harvest. We lose our food and income. How can we not quarrel?"

Mama Aisha Yakubu, a cassava farmer near Nukkai, describes a soil that no longer holds moisture the way it once did.

"The dry season now feels longer. Even when rain falls, it doesn't stay. The soil is tired and dries very fast," she said. "Herders used to pass through in December and January. This year some came in October while we were still harvesting. Their cows destroyed two of my cassava farms. We reported to the village head, but the damage was already done. Climate is changing and bringing hunger and fighting with it."

Flooding and Drought — Sometimes in the Same Field

Rice farmer David Tijjani in the Specialist community area says the unpredictability itself has become the crisis.

"Rainfall patterns have shifted badly in the last five to seven years. We now see heavy rain one day and then nothing for weeks. Flooding destroys some fields while drought kills others," he said. "Herders stay longer because there is no good grass up north. 

When their animals enter our rice fields, one night can finish months of work. This has caused serious fights in our community. Some herders are understanding, but many come with armed guards now. Everyone is afraid."

Herders Are Struggling Too

Ardo Bello Mohammed, a Fulani community representative and herder leader, says his people are not moving south by choice.

"Our traditional routes are broken. The north is drier for longer periods. What we call the dry season now starts earlier and ends later," he said. "We used to move south around November and return by April or May. Now we move in October and sometimes stay till June or July because the rains are not reliable up north. When we arrive and farmers have not finished harvesting, conflict happens. Our cattle are hungry too. We don't want war — we want grass and water."

Mohammed called on government to establish functional grazing reserves and clearly demarcated corridors to reduce the overlap between herder movement and active farmland. "If there are proper routes and grazing areas, we will use them. But right now there is nothing," he said.

Climate Change at the Root

Local officials and environmental experts link these shifting patterns directly to climate change. Reduced and increasingly erratic rainfall across Nigeria's northern belt, combined with advancing desertification, is compressing the time and space available for traditional pastoral migration. 

As grazing land shrinks in the north, herders are moving further south into Taraba's greener but densely cultivated lands — arriving during planting and harvesting seasons rather than after them.

Taraba State has recorded repeated outbreaks of farmer-herder violence over the past decade, with communities in Ardo-Kola, Gassol, Ibi, and Wukari among the worst affected. Beyond the deaths and displacement, the conflict is eroding food security across the state. 

Farmers are abandoning land out of fear. Herders are losing cattle they cannot replace. Both communities are caught in a cycle of loss driven not only by human decisions, but by a changing climate neither group caused.

As world leaders prepare to gather at COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye later this year to negotiate climate action, communities in Taraba are not waiting for global solutions. They are surviving season by uncertain season.

CSO advocate improved health service delivery in Taraba

By Godwin Agia, Jalingo 

The Association of Civil Society Organisations in Malaria Control, Immunisation and Nutrition (ACOMIN) has l carried out a two-day advocacy visit to key government health agencies to close the gap in health service delivery in Taraba State. 

Alh Mohammed Tanko Danburam, Team Lead, emphasised during the advocacy in Jalingo that patients are being forced to travel to other facilities or purchase medicines from private pharmacies, increasing costs and delaying access to care.

He explained that the visits is aimed to present community feedback on gaps affecting malaria, maternal health, and HIV services.

According to Danburam, the team engaged four agencies, including the Taraba State Ministry of Health and the Primary Health Care Development Agency where they presented the absence of ultrasound scanner services at Nyaja Primary Health Care Centre and stock-outs of malaria treatment commodities.

He said that the affected facilities include First Referral Hospital Sunkani and Manji PHC, Gassol LGA, and Denden Primary Health Care Centre in Donga LGA. The team also highlighted shortages of HIV testing kits at Lufu PHC in Takum LGA.

Danburam stressed that addressing these gaps is critical to strengthening community health systems and ensuring residents have access to life-saving interventions.

"We are representing community voices, and the lack of Malaria and HIV compels patients to travel to other facilities or purchase medicines from private pharmacies, thereby increasing costs and delaying timely access to care," he said.

Responding, Malaria focal person Mr. Muhammad Mahmud of the Primary Health Care Development Agency, Coordinator, Logistics Management Coordinating Unit, Pharm. Ada Frank, and Mr. Bala Zungyeri, Secretary, Taraba State AIDS Control Agency, all noted with concern that the issues will be investigated and acted upon within the shortest period.