Tangale community rejects report on Biliri crisis, says new paramount ruler will not be recognised

The Tangale community overseas, have dismissed the report of the “kangaroo committee”, set up by the Gombe state governor, Alhaji Inuwa Yahaya, to investigate the violence that erupted in Biliri Local Government Area of the state, following the controversial appointment of a new Mai Tangale, the paramount ruler of the area.  The group also declared that “the Tangale people will never recognize Mallam Danladi as the Mai Tangle”, and lashed at the governor for allegedly using government owned media platforms to mislead the public.
In February violence erupted in the area over the appointment of a new traditional ruler the Mai Tangale, following allegations that the state government appointed a candidate who scored the lowest vote during the selection process by the king makers. Three people were killed while property worth millions of naira was said to have been destroyed during the peaceful protest which ended in violence.
The Gombe state government later set up a committee to investigate the crisis. The committee recently submitted its report to the state government.
However, the Tangale community overseas have rejected the report of the committee, saying its findings are full of concoctions and blatant lies.
Besides, the group also faulted the composition of members committee, which it said, was made up of 25 Muslims and nine christians in a christian dominated community.
The group, in a statement by its Secretary General, Mr. Lamela Umaru, described the report of the committee as “alarming.”
The statement said, “We hereby speak on behalf of the Tangale people under siege of the Gombe state government and particularly, Governor Inuwa Yahaya.
“Just when you think the man is completely out of touch with reality and the rule of law, he finds ways to outdo himself.
“We would like to draw the attention of the world to two recent events that expose the snake-like behavior and activities of Governor Yahaya.
“After the unfortunate violence that followed a peaceful protest by the Tangale women in which they demanded the governor to honour the culture and traditions of the Tangale people, the governor sent 25 Muslim and nine Christian leaders to visit the sites and people that suffered loss.”
The group said, “The report by the committee chairman, which the governor gladly announced and celebrated is quite alarming.
“It claims that 32 Mosques and one church were destroyed within hours on Friday evening”.
Umaru said there are two issues of concern in the report and raised questions as to how the committee arrived at such conclusions!
The statement noted that, “Two points of concern in that report are: The logistics required for such random, yet precise attack must involve coordination of many people. “According to the report, most of the damage was done to businesses in a specific location.
“Are these 32 mosques in the same location? We know where two mosques and one church are located but would like to know of the others.
“The number of Mosques alleged to have been destroyed within Billiri is clearly exaggerated for political and financial gains.
“Where are those mosques located? Can the committee provide pictures and names of the location? We are from Billiri and no one in Billiri can point to 32 mosques that were either torched or destroyed.
“The report is clearly tempered with by the governor because he has an agenda to harm the Tangale people’s reputation as we have pointed out already.”
It noted further that, “Another precarious and embarrassing strategy of Governor Yahaya was the use of government owned or supported media as a propaganda tool.
“He and his allies extended their reach to the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Hausa service, where an outrageous concoction of an interview of a purported member of Tangale youth, with an accent that is clearly not from Tangale, was recorded with the aim of broadcasting to Hausa listeners.”
The statement alleged that, “In the audio the interviewee claimed his team of vandals was promised money by some unnamed people to carry out the mayhem in Billiri.
The speaker, codenamed ‘Ben’ threatened to reveal the names of their sponsors if they are not paid.
“Well, we know that he was paid to make the statement, but we encourage him to please go ahead and reveal his sponsors because we the Tangale people have been looking for the perpetrators of the mayhem beyond the governor himself…”
The group urged the media to investigate the claims in te report.
“In view of the known precarious behavior of the governor, we invite members of the free press to visit Billiri town and take pictures of the said places of worship that were destroyed…
“We put our credibility and that of Yahaya to the test on this matter. We challenge specifically, the Gombe state media, public and private, to visit Billiri town and check the findings of the Kangaroo committee”, the statement urged.
The group accused the governor for intentionally abrogating the customs and traditions of the Tangale people to himself by choosing a traditional ruler for them, knowing quiet well that “the Tangale people would never acquiesce.”
The statement said the that violence that erupted after the announcement of an unpopular candidate by the government, provided a cover for the governor “to carry out his roguish lockdown and indiscriminate arrests of Tangale people.”
Part of the statement reads: “The man attacked the identity of the Tangale people by bringing an instrument of Fulanization on the throne of Mai Tangle.
“He did not choose Alhaji Magaji Mai Yamba but brought Mallam Danladi Maishanu from Gombe and tried to make him Mai Tangle.
“Did he expect that the Tangale people will fold their hands and accept a stooge of his?
“Governor Yahaya is only a politician who will be out of office soon, but the Tangale people will remain and will never recognize Mallam Danladi as Mai Tangle.
“Justice will rain down, the truth will prevail, and in the end, the Tangale customs and traditions will prevail when Dr. Musa Idris Mai Yamba sits on the throne as chosen by the Tangale people.
“Make no mistake about this, the Tangale people are neither led nor swayed by politicians.
“We are a people with a long history of resistance to the Fulani agenda against the minority tribes of Middlebelt Nigeria.
“If you doubt it, check with our cousins, the Kanuri tribe of Borno. We continue to challenge our neighboring tribal nations to wake up and see what is going on in other parts of the Middlebelt and the nation.
“Governor Yahaya is only a small part of the big plan of Fulanization of Nigeria. The tactic of divide and rule has been at play for a while.
“There is no reason for any violence between the tribal nations in Tangale-Waja.
“We should not kill ourselves while the enemy sits and watches, meanwhile, using the tool of government to oppress us when we challenge him.
“The Tangale people will never surrender their identity to the pen of Governor Yahaya or his emissaries living among the Tangale people.”