The Special Assistant on Media to HRH Dr. David W. Tukura, the Aguma of Bassa Turunku Chiefdom, Malam Jibreel Gimba, in an article titled; “The Bassa-Egbura Crisis: Stop Shadow Chase and Face Reality”, has tackled Egbura ethnic group over allegation going round on social media that the present instances of kidnappings, banditry and incessant killings of innocent civilians being orchestrated by unknown bandits in Toto LGA of Nasarawa state, is the work of the Bassas.
You would recall that over the years, the two ethnic groups has been at loggerhead over who’s the rightful owner of some communities, which has resulted in constant communal crisis and the destruction of lives and properties.
Reacting to the allegation, Mr. Gimba, described same as contemptuous, unscrupulous and unholy for someone or anyone, to take to the public domain, and narrate unfounded stories, targeting the Bassas as the masterminds of the current predicaments which has overtaken Toto LGA.
“As things stand at the moment, I can vouch for the Bassa people that not a single Bassa individual is even aware of what exactly is happening in Toto LGA except the news reaching us through social media sources and unverified quarters.
“If the Egburas want to hold anybody responsible for the present situation in Toto LGA, it should be none other than their own-selves and the universal, natural law of karma – which stipulates that one reaps what one sows, and should desist from blaming the Bassas for their present, wrathful encountered dilemma.
“We have had more than enough tribulations to face in exile after our houses/places of worship were desecrated, while our abandoned hard-earned properties were acrimoniously looted by Egbura hoodlums for the second time in twenty years – 1997/98; 2018”, he said.
He maintained that the present predicament facing the Egburas in Toto LGA is the consequences of the monster that they created, which has turned around to terrorize them.
“I’m sorry to say that, what the Egburas are presently experiencing in Toto LGA is the consequences of the monster that they did create and let out to vanquish the Bassas, which has inturn, turned around to terrorize them. It is called nemesis. It is like the chickens coming back home roost after being sent out from their pen-house in the morning by their owners.
“The Bassas as far as I am concerned, are not behind any of those attacks against the Egburas or any other unwholesome incidents in Toto LGA. Hence, the Egburas should stop the shadow-chase and face squarely, the reality of the situation on ground by arresting substances. Casting aspersions and dumbfounded rhetorics, coupled with unworthy and unsubstantiated claims against the Bassas will not change the reality of the situation on ground.
“The only thing the Bassa communities of Toto LGA look forward to, is the peaceful return of its sons and daughters to their ancestral homes, so that they can as well, pick up the shattered pieces of their lives, try as much as possible to put it back into place and continue with their normal life as it used to be in the past”, he added.
