Tension On The Plateau As Lalong Cuts Away Gbong Gwom Jos Kingdom

Tension has been raised on the plateau after the state government created two new traditional councils in the state and restricted the Gbong Gwom Jos to Jos South Local Government Area and Barkin Ladi Local Government Areas.

The development came amid fears among indigenous tribes on the plateau of a plot by the All Progressives Congress, APC led administration in the state to create an emirate in Jos North. This fear sources on the plateau said was upon the fact that the Hausa Fulani in Jos North constitute the highest ethnic proportion in Jos North.

A statement by the state commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs, Dayyabu Garga said the two new councils created were in Jos North and Riyom Local Government Areas with the Ataa Aten of Ganawuri and Ujaa of Anaguta respectively as the head of the two new councils.

The commissioner said the creation was based upon section 91(3) of the 2016 local government law.

Though the statement was quiet on the fate of the Gbong Gwom Jos who until now had been the head of the Jos Joint Traditional Council, the implication of the statement stakeholders said was that he had been restricted to Jos South and Barkin Ladi.

“The government would want him to be Gbong Gwom Berom,” one stakeholder told GreenWhiteGreen on the development.

“What the governor has done by this is that he has created an opportunity that would one day lead to the emergence of an emir in Jos,” he said.

Another source on the plateau said that it was remarkable that the Aten were less than the Berom in Riyom but will have the Ataa Aten as their head breeding the prospects of ethnic conflict in the area.

The development unfolded on Friday as the Berom held one of her most cherished festivals, the Nzen Berom. The occasion attracted dignitaries from far and near including Speaker Yakubu Dogara. Governor who was expected to have been present was represented by a commissioner and not even his deputy, a source present at the occasion mused.

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