From Joseph Asegba, Adamawa
The National Association of Jukun Wanu (NAJUWA) on Saturday asked President Bola Tinubu to carve out a new local government area for the Jukun people in Benue State, saying decades of “political marginalisation and land dispossession” have left the minority group without a voice in state and national affairs.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, NAJUWA President, Engr. Moses Amankye, and Secretary-General, Musa Atase, said the “riverine” Jukun trace their ancestry to the defunct Kwararafa Empire but have been “labelled settlers” in Benue because no council area bears their name.
“Our communities span Makurdi, Guma and Logo LGAs, yet we have no administrative structure of our own,” Amankye told journalists. “A dedicated LGA will guarantee fair representation, preserve our heritage and stem the systematic erasure of our identity.”
The association alleged that Tiv settlers “now advantaged by numbers, resources and political power” have renamed Jukun towns, dismantled traditional institutions and seized farmland across 14 Benue LGAs. “We welcome peaceful co-existence,” Atase said, “but the customary rights to these lands belong to the Jukun. We intend to assert those rights in court if necessary.”
Framing the demand as part of Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda, NAJUWA urged the Presidency, Senate and House of Representatives to “exercise the political will” to create a Jukun LGA. The group also announced plans to lobby stakeholders nationwide, including Jukun communities in Taraba, Nasarawa and Adamawa, for support.
Attempts to obtain a reaction from the Tiv Traditional Council were unsuccessful as calls to its spokesperson went unanswered at press time.