By Nimake Earland
Zauren Baba Gonto, a pressure group from the Tafawa Balewa/Bogoro area of Bauchi State has called on the state government to compensate victims of the canceled 21st memorial anniversary of the late Zaar leader, Baba Peter Gonto.
This was disclosed on Tuesday by the leader of the group, Bonji Bar at a press conference in Bauchi. He called for peace among warring factions and charged them to bury their hatchets and see each other as brothers and sisters bound by ethnic lineage for a common cause.
He said: “We wish to condemn in strong terms the ugly and unfortunate violent attack by thugs, arsonists, and anarchists that abruptly ended the Baba Peter Gonto 21″ memorial and official launching of the Peter Gonto foundation that happened on the 31” December 2021 in Bogoro.
“This ugly avoidable debacle started from Tafawa Balewa from 29th through the 31 December 2021 and spread to other communities including Bar, Bogoro and Mwari, the town of the legendary Baba Peter Gonto of blessed memories.
“We, therefore, call on the state government to ensure that all those innocent persons who suffer loss in any form are compensated.
“This ugly incident led to the untimely death of Baba Aralla Peter Gonto who happens to be an illustrious son and liberator of our land Baba Peter Gonto, in lieu of this, we sue for calm as the deceased is yet to be buried.
“We call on the security agencies to go after and apprehend the perpetrators of these barbaric acts, and let them face the full wrath of the law to serve as a deterrent to other criminally minded fellows, and their sponsors arrested.”
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The group further said it will continue to stand as a mediator between warring factions until a United front is forged in the land for the attainment of common goals.
“As Zauren Baba Gonto, we shall continue to operate on nonpartisanship and all the interest of Zaar sons and daughters would be protected by us in all frontiers irrespective of political affiliation, ideology, faith, clan, social status, or community.
“We call on ZDA, ZAYODA, Women wing, NUZAS, other pressure and interest groups, politicians, civil servant, artisans, farmers and other private individuals of ZAAR extraction to refrain from posting inciting, provocative and inflammatory statements that can stir disaffection and cause dis-unity, and worse off, conflicts especially on social media platforms.
“We, therefore, urge all Zaar sons and daughters where ever they may be to remain law-abiding and on no account shall we tolerate any form of incitement and violence. All warring factions must bury their hatchets and see each other as brothers and sisters bound by ethnic lineage for a common cause.
