Taraba Facts

Former Dean of Student Affairs of the Taraba State University, Jalingo, Dr. Buba Umar, has been abducted by gunmen. Umar was abducted from his residence in the University’s staff quarters at about 1.58 a.m. on yesterday and was taken through the bush path that bordered the institution and the College of Agriculture. An eyewitness, who craved anonymity, told THISDAY that the assailants successfully abducted the former dean without firing any gunshot despite the presence of two policemen guarding the school’s guest house, which is a stone throw to his residence. Besides the two policemen, there were two personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) guarding the staff quarters in addition to the University’s internal security staff. THISDAY gathered that the NSCDC’s personnel put up some form of resistance by shooting sporadically into the air and later sought the support of the policemen who declined to join them in confronting the gunmen on the grounds that they were...

Access to drinkable water is not a challenge in Jalingo  compared to other villages. It could be fetched at the easiest convenience. However, a few kilometers out of the town is Gongon Mahuja. It is in Wuro Sembe area of the state capital. In this suburb, with a slightly high density of human population, drinkable water is a luxury. Access to it is extremely difficult. The town suffers from the combined impediments of a general lack of water for their daily needs and an absence of healthy, drinkable water. The villagers told Daily Sun, last week that residents of Gongon Mahuja access their daily water directly from a small pond and a gully that dries off during the dry season. Mr Bala Yohana said: “The water situation here is very bad. In fact, now that the rainy season has started again, you will not understand how bad it gets at the peak of the dry season. “Some children even stop going to schools because they spend the whole morning trying to scoop water from the fast drying pon...

Sen. Yusuf A. Yusuf (APC Taraba Central) initiated another bill for the Establishment of the INTEGRATED CORPORATE COMMERCIAL DATA MANAGEMENT COMMISSION. The bill has so far passed second reading at the red chamber. SENATOR YUSUF'S STATEMENT  I have initiated, authored, presented and is sponsoring a Bill for the Establishment of the INTEGRATED CORPORATE COMMERCIAL DATA MANAGEMENT COMMISSION. I am honoured that this Senate Bill has gone through a Second Reading.  The thrust of this Bill is to create a Commission responsible for the comprehensive management of all data relating to duly registered Corporate Commercial entities in Nigeria, with a view to creating a one-stop-shop for all information on businesses and corporate entities in Nigeria. The Commission would undertake the comprehensive collation and harmonisation of all certificates issued by corporate commercial regulatory bodies in Nigeria, and then ensure smooth relationships between these regulatory bodies as far as bu...

Proceedings at the Justice Christopher Awubra Judicial Panel on Restitution of Victims of Police Brutality and other security agencies in Taraba State has suspended hearing of petitions over paucity of funds. DAILY POST reports that the activities of the panel ought to end on the 30th of this month. It was, however, abruptly ended on Tuesday following what some members of the commission referred to as “poor funding.” Though the chairman, while answering questions from media practitioners, said the decision of the panel is to enable them to compile reports that emanated from the various petitions attended to, a statement DAILY POST found to be false. Funds which includes allowances for the members as well as for the purchase of working tools such as stationery and other miscellaneous, have in the past five months not been provided to the panel. As at the time of filing this report, anxiety has heightened among petitioners, who have started doubting the possibility of being compensated b...

  Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State has said the 3,000 teachers he hired at the beginning of his administration transformed the education sector in the state. Ishaku stated this in Yola against the background of the improvement in the performance of students sitting the West African Senior School Examination and the National Examination Council exams in the state. The success rate of Taraba students in the two exams recently moved from 25 to 85 per cent. The governor recalled that when he became governor, he was discouraged by the poor exam performance of students in the state. He said he almost sacked over 20,000 teachers in an attempt to raise the standard of education in Taraba, adding that he later opted to train and retrain the teachers. Ishaku said, “We used to be the last in the North East in terms of student performance for school leavers, but we are now the first. First of all, I saved a lot of money from ghost workers, which I used in employing the famous 3,000 teach...

He said that two projects would be executed in each of the 16 local government areas of the state. According to him, three mega secondary schools would also be built in all the three senatorial districts in the state. He said that contractors would soon be mobilised to sites as all modalities have been concluded towards the execution of the projects. Kente, a former gubernatorial aspirant on the platform of the APC urged residents to cooperate with the contractors towards the successful execution of the projects. “The North East Development Commission as a new agency of government established two years ago has taken its time to produce a blueprint towards delivering effectively on it’s mandate”. ”The commission, in the next three weeks will commence the execution of 35 projects in all the 16 local government areas in the state”. ”Two projects have being approved for each of the 16 local government areas and as well the construction of three mega secondary schools one each in all the se...

  Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku and his administration have been accused of looting the treasury to the tune of N39billion naira. The Taraba Integrity and Accountability Group Jalingo (TIAGJ), petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, PRNigeria reports. The organization claimed the accounts of the Taraba Government House, in Jalingo, and the Office of the Secretary to the State Government, are channels through which billions of naira were siphoned from 2015 to 2020. TIAGJ alleged Ishaku’s younger sister, Mrs. Gladys Kande Mamman, a member of the Taraba State Primary Board, uses pseudo companies linked to her BVN (withheld) to launder billions for the governor via hoax contracts. The group said that no Local Government Council has been able to undertake a project worth N5million from 2015 to 2020, because the funds are centrally misappropriated. TIAGJ said between August and September 2015, the Taraba accessed a credit facilit...

  The joint military operation covering Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states, codenamed Operation Whirl Stroke, OPWS, has commenced a 7-day operation in the three states to clear bandits and armed herders in forests and communities located in the states. Though no formal statement has been issued to that effect by the Commander of the OPWS, Brig. Gen. Clement Apere, a military source told reporters yesterday in Makurdi that the operation became necessary to check the incessant attacks on communities in Benue state particularly by armed herdsmen. He explained that the operation would also be covering islands behind the Nigeria Army School of Military Engineering, NASME, barracks in Makurdi and Gbajimba in Guma Local Government Area of Benue state which were identified as locations usually used as hideouts by armed herders from Nasarawa state before they launch attacks on unsuspecting victims in the state. He disclosed that the armed herders only recently ambushed military personnel on ...

  By Aminu Ibrahim Malle, PhD Sen. Aisha Jummai Alhassan is gone... Gone forever! The first thing I uttered when the shocking news was broken to me on Friday evening was ''Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun, kulli nafsin za'ikatul maut". From Allah we are and to him we should return, and indeed every soul must taste death. I watched helplessly at the outpouring of grief-laden tributes from mourners across all walks of life detailing their utter disbelieve, bared sorrows, and fond memories of the woman who until her sudden death, was a powerful force of unity, an excellent grassroot mobilizer and a strong reminder of the roles women can play if empowered to participate in governance. But for some of us close to her it's beyond sorrows, disbelieve or fond memories. It's more about the foundation of Muri now orphaned by her sudden death. No doubt Sen. Aisha Jummai Alhassan until her very last moment was the most unifying force for the people of Muri irrespective of...

  Hajiya Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan popularly known as Mama Taraba was born on the 16 September 1959 in Jalingo Taraba State. She resigned as the Minister of Women Affairs of Nigeria on July 27, 2018. She was appointed in 2015 to the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari after his election. She was previously a Senator, representing Taraba North senatorial district of Taraba State, Nigeria which she won under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).  She later decamped to the main opposition party All Progressive Congress (APC) and became the  gubernatorial candidate of the party in Taraba Statefor the 2015 general elections. She was defeated in the election re-run held on 25 April 2015, but on 7  November 2015 tribunal removes Taraba Governor,  Darius Ishaku, declares Aisha Alhassan of the All  Progressives Congress winner of April 11, 2015  poll, this was later reversed by the Appeal and Supreme Courts of Nigeria. Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan was a...

  The   Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)   has arrested three officials of the Taraba State Government over a N21 billion scam, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt. The state officials, according to EFCC sources, who sought not to be named because they have not been authorised to talk publicly about the matter, are a permanent secretary, a Director of Finance and Account and a cashier in the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs. Top EFCC sources told this newspaper on Friday that the officials were arrested on Wednesday (May 5) and are still being held at the commission’s headquarters in Jabi, Abuja, as of Friday. The suspects have volunteered statements to investigators, this newspaper was reliably informed. They were said to have been arrested over their alleged role in the withdrawal of N21 billion from the state coffers. Sources said the money was withdrawn from the state’s accounts through cheques in tranches of at least N10 million each. EFCC spo...

The Taraba state government has reacted on the motion that was moved by the Senate deputy minority leader, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha on the arrest and detention of some youth in Takum by the police in Jalingo. This was contained in a Press Conference address by the Commissioner for Information, Barr. Danjuma Adamu on Thursday 6th May, 2021. Details of the Press Conference is given below; “The attention of the Taraba State Government has been drawn to a publication on the social media signed by one Disebe S. Bala Donga, SA New Media to Senator Emmanuel Bwacha linking the Taraba State Governor, His Excellency, Arc. Darius Dickson Ishaku to the arrest and detention of some youth from Takum Local Government Area by the Police in Taraba State.” “The purported writer claimed that the youth “were mischievously lured by His Excellency, Arc. Darius Dickson Ishaku to Jalingo” before they were whisked away by the police for an illegal detention for a bailable offence.” “Sadly, this statement was al...

  The Senate has urged Acting Inspector-General of Police (I-GP) Usman Alkali and the Police Service Commission (PSC) to investigate the alleged violation of human rights by police in Taraba. The upper chamber also urged them to investigate the officer, the Commissioner of Police in Taraba, who allegedly authorised the unlawful arrest and detention of 14 residents in the state without bail. These resolutions were sequel to a Point of Order raised by Sen. Emmanuel Bwacha (PDP-Taraba) at the plenary on Wednesday. Other resolutions by the senate included the directive on the National Judicial Commission (NJC) in collaboration with their state counterpart to investigate the acting Chief Registrar of Taraba High Court, Bartholomew Kaigama, over judicial abuse. “Urge the National Judicial Commission in collaboration with their state counterpart to ensure the release of the suspects.” Raising Orders 42 and 52 of Senate’s Standing Rules, Bwacha, who is the Senate Deputy Minority ...

  Bandawa community in Karim-Lamido local government council of Taraba State has now become a shadow of itself. This is following a fire outbreak that did not only raze down the community, but also led to the death of two persons. Reports made available to DAILY POST indicated that apart from the deaths, over hundreds of property worth millions of Naira were destroyed. The incident, which took the community unawares, claimed the deceased persons while attempting to save the lives of the young and elderly ones in the community In a telephone chat with our correspondent, the President of the Bandawa Community Development Association, Mathias Manyi, he called on those affected to remain calm as efforts were being put in place to get the presence of both the state and the federal government. The President who could not say the cause of the inferno as of the time of filing this report, beckoned on the authorities to assist the victims in view of the devastating effect of the fire disast...