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2025 Tiv Day was on 20th September

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By Iorliam Shija

After a long period of dormancy, Mzough U Tiv has once again found its voice and courage to organize a Tiv Day. While I congratulate the Tor Tiv, the leadership of Mzough U Tiv, and Tiv people worldwide on this cultural revival, I cannot help but ask an uncomfortable but necessary question: why keep changing the date?

Would Christians be joyful if Christmas were suddenly shifted from 25th December to another day? Culture, like faith, derives its power from memory, continuity, and meaning. When dates are altered without historical justification, symbols are weakened and identity diluted.

On 6th August 2005, just three months and fourteen days before his death, His Excellency, Very Reverend Father Moses Orshio Adasu, former Governor of Benue State, delivered a lecture as Guest Speaker at a Tiv Day organized by the Community of Tiv Students (CTS) at Benue State University, now Rev. Fr. Moses Orshio Adasu University, Makurdi. His topic was aptly titled “Introspection: Key to the Development of the Tiv Nation.”

Before delving into his paper, Fr. Adasu made a profound observation. He noted that such a glamorous and intellectually engaging Tiv Day, organized by students, mostly young people, ought to have been the responsibility of Mzough U Tiv. With visible regret, he lamented that Ijir Tamen and Mzough U Tiv institutions that once symbolized Tiv ontology, were effectively dead.

“I have lamented that Ijir Tamen and Mzough U Tiv, which symbolized Tiv ontology, are gone—and with them, the Tiv Nation. They must be resurrected,” Adasu declared.

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He further advised that Tiv people at home and in the diaspora must come together to reclaim a collective forum where they could withdraw into themselves, rediscover who they are, and consciously recreate Tiv identity.

In recent years, the growing success of Tiv cultural platforms such as Kyegh Sha Shwa (KSS) and the Mutual Union of the Tiv in America (MUTA) and Mzough U Tiv UK (MUTUK) annual conventions appear to echo the same concerns raised by the late priest. These initiatives have reignited intellectual and cultural reflection among Tiv thinkers.

It is perhaps this mounting pressure that the current Tor Tiv, HRM Professor James Ortese Iorzua Ayatse, who marks nine years on the throne on 20th December, has responded to by organizing today’s event in Gboko. But the crucial question remains which is: was this event conceived with Tiv historical reality in mind?

According to Professor Mvendaga Jibo, a foremost scholar on politics and chieftaincy affairs, the process that led to the formation of Mzough U Tiv began on 6th April, 1985 during the 60th birthday celebration of the third Tor Tiv, HRH Orchivirigh James Akperan Orshi, at Tse Kur Baka in Buruku Local Government Area. It was there that the Tor Tiv publicly hinted at the need for a non-partisan Tiv forum.

When Orshi ascended the throne on 10th March, 1979, he inherited a deeply fractured Tiv society still reeling from the aftershocks of the “Nande-Nande” and “Atem Ityough” crises, compounded by the bitterness of the 1979 and later the 1983 gubernatorial elections. While politicians counted victories, the Tor Tiv perceived something far more dangerous, the gradual erosion of Tiv unity and identity, which needed to be reversed.

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Thus, at his 60th birthday, he pleaded with his people to fashion a neutral forum to heal Tivland. He even offered a symbolic reward of ₦1,000 to anyone willing to bring Tiv sons and daughters together. That appeal resonated. Meetings followed, delegates were selected, and by 1st June 1985, Mzough U Tiv was formally born during an Ijir Tamen session.

Its objectives were lofty and rooted in unity, peace, cultural preservation, language development, traditional institutions, and socio-economic advancement. Yet, nearly four decades later, one must ask honestly whether Mzough U Tiv has lived up to these ideals.

The body’s failure, sadly, mirrors the very divisions it was created to heal. From its inception, partisan rifts, partic

General News

Mother Subjects Daughter to Abuse, Admits: “I made $300 from my 8-yr-old daughter’s pornographic video’

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By Nick Ibe

The viral video on the social media involving an 8-year old girl whose ordeal was caused by her money loving mother has been arrested.

The arrest was facilitated by vigilante police operatives in the area, as well as bloggers and residents who provided information that assisted the investigation leading to the arrest of her 36-year-old mother, Anulika Onyeanusia, Onitsha, Anambra state.

According to the police, the Anambra State Police Command arrested her over alleged child pornography in Onitsha, by uploading a video involving her eight-year-old daughter on a pornographic platform to make money.

Onyeanusia, after the arrest, reportedly, told investigators that the highest amount she had made from uploading such content was $300.

The suspect also disclosed that the eight-year-old girl seen in the video is her second child, while preliminary investigation by the police allegedly revealed that she had also subjected her first daughter to similar acts and uploaded the content on a pornographic platform.

During interrogation, the suspect reportedly blamed the act on the devil, telling police: “It is the devil, please forgive me” while adding that her husband was unaware of what she had allegedly been doing to their two daughters.

The arrest followed the circulation of a video showing the woman allegedly using sex toys on the eight-year-old girl. The video prompted police operatives to act on what the command described as open-source intelligence and traced the suspect.

In the disturbing footage, the girl could be heard crying and pleading with her mother to stop as the alleged abuse continued. The police said the video showed the suspect allegedly engaging in the act while apparently producing the content for an online audience.

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During the operation, which was carried out on Thursday evening, the command said four children, aged two, three, six and nine years, were rescued.

The Police also disclosed that sex toys and other items believed to be relevant to the investigation were recovered from the suspect.

The command said investigation was ongoing to establish the full circumstances surrounding the alleged abuse and determine whether other persons were involved.

Spokesman for the command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, who confirmed the arrest of the suspect and rescue of the children, said, ” The suspect is currently in police custody as the Command intensifies its investigation into the circumstances surrounding the alleged offence and the possible involvement of other persons. The husband of the suspect is also undergoing interrogation to determine whether he has any connection with the alleged offence.

“The Commissioner of Police, Anambra State Command, CP Nnanna Oji, who is deeply disturbed by the alleged act, described it as unacceptable, particularly because it involves the exploitation and abuse of children who are incapable of protecting themselves. He has therefore directed a thorough and professional investigation while ensuring that the rescued children receive appropriate care and protection.

“To this end, the Command notes that beyond the investigation and prosecution, its priority is the safety, dignity and wellbeing of the rescued children.

“The Command will work with the appropriate child-protection and relevant support agencies to ensure that the victims receive the necessary care, protection, counselling and other support required for their recovery. Their identities and privacy will be protected throughout the process, and they will be treated with compassion and sensitivity.

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“The Command also commends the vigilante operatives in the area, as well as bloggers and residents who provided information that assisted the investigation and led to the arrest of the suspect”, he stated.

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Lawyer Assaulted by Police: NBA Gboko Branch Secures N500 Million General and Exemplary Damages in Makurdi Court

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By Our Reporter

In the pursuit of justice for a colleague, B. B. Iliamkondo, Esq., who was recently assaulted and battered by personnel of the Nigeria Police Force in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Gboko Branch, under the leadership of Felix Uwar, Esq., on Friday, 11th September, 2026 obtained judgement in favour of its member.

The facts which impregnated the suit that delivered the sweet victory are that, sometime in May, 2026, a client retained the legal services of B. B. Iliamkondo, Esq. to secure his bail at Koti-Mbaduku, Shangev-Ya, Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State.

On arrival at the police outpost, the officer in-charge, one Inspector Terngu Ikyuur, demanded for money as a condition for the bail of the said client. Confused, the learned Iliamkondo, Esq. requested to know why he had to pay for bail when it was statutorily free of charge whereupon the police officer got infuriated and ordered him to vacate the police outpost immediately or face being implicated in his client’s cause. Mr. Iliamkondo then made to deliver his written application for the bail of his client but the officer instead seized him by the shirt, stalked him to the ground and cramped him into detention alongside his client and other inmates.

The following day, Inspector Terngu Ikyuur brought Mr. Iliamkondo out of the detention facility and forced him to carry on his head a bucket of faeces and urine passed over night by inmates. The officer compelled him to sing that he was a-charge- and-bail lawyer as he marched Mr. Iliamkondo around the community with a loaded gun pointed at his head all the while, threatening to kill him if he stopped marching.

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Upon the intervention of his learned friends, Iliamkondo was later released after being brutalized and stripped half-naked by the police Inspector. Aggrieved, the NBA Gboko Chairman, Uwar, Esq., quickly empanelled a team of lawyers to secure the enforcement of fundamental rights of their learned friend. The team had: I. S. Gese, Esq. ; F. M. Z. Uwar, Esq.; Bem-Ephraim Orlunan Ayati, Esq. ; T. I. Tur, Esq.; S.L.Puusu, Esq. ; B. I. Aker,Esq.; G. M. Jimin, Esq. ; S. S. Gbileve, Esq. ; C. M. T. Uwar, Esq. ; F. Tyoyima, Esq. ; B. E. Atser, Esq. ; and M. I. Tagher, Esq.

The team instituted SUIT NO: MHC/4110M / 2026 before the Benue State High Court of Justice, sitting at Makurdi with B. B. Iliamkondo, Esq. as the Applicant against Inspector Terngu Ikyuur; CSP Banfa U. Nanzing; Commissioner of Police, Benue State; Inspector General of Police; Police Service Commission; and Nigeria Police Force as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Respondents, respectively.

In his judgement delivered on September 11, 2026, Hon. Justice M. M. Ikwulono, upheld the application and entered judgement in favour of the Applicant, Agugu Iliamkondo Benson Bemsen, Esq.

The Court awarded general and exemplary damages in his favour and against the Respondents in the sum of Five Hundred Million Naira (₦500, 000,000.00) only for the violation of his fundamental rights by the police.

The Court also Ordered the police to author and publish an apology to the Applicant in national newspapers with nation-wide circulation, a copy of which shall be furnished to the Applicant.

But besides the court ruling, the NBA has reportedly caused a formal petition to be written against Inspector Terngu Ikyuur and his DPO, CSP Banfa U. Nanzing, for discreet disciplinary action against them.

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In their response to the outcome of the matter, the legal team said: “On our part as the legal team, we salute this judgement as sound in law, compensatory to our learned friend and deterrent against the police.

“We equally thank the Chairman of the Gboko Branch of the NBA, Uwar, Esq., under whose watch he ensured that our learned colleague’s humiliation got the justice that he deserves.”

At the time of filing this report, the NPF had yet to react to the judgment.

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Alia Denounces Ayilamo Attack, Commiserated With Victims as DSS Arrests 3 Suspects

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By Felix Umande

Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State has strongly condemned the deadly attack on Ayilamo Community in Logo Local Government Area, describing it as a “despicable act” and a grave threat to peace and security in the state.

The attack, which occurred on Wednesday night, claimed the lives of four police officers and seven civilians, while thousands were displaced.

In a statement on Thursday signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Sir Tersoo Kula, the Governor said the killing of law enforcement officers “is particularly painful and underscores the enormous sacrifices being made by security personnel in the line of duty.”

“This despicable act is an attack on the peace-loving people of Ayilamo and a grave threat to the security and stability of Benue State,” Governor Alia stated.
He described the incident as “a disturbing reminder of the persistent insecurity and repeated attacks on vulnerable communities and law-enforcement officers in the area.”

Governor Alia extended heartfelt condolences to the people of Ayilamo, the families of all victims, and the entire Logo LGA community.

He also commiserated with the Inspector-General of Police and the Benue State Commissioner of Police over the loss of the four officers.
“We honour their courage and sacrifice and pray that God grants their families, colleagues, and loved ones the strength to bear this irreparable loss,” the Governor added.

The Governor commended the Department of State Services for the “prompt and professional operation” that led to the arrest of three suspects allegedly connected to the Ayilamo attack in Benue and Nasarawa States.

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He described the arrests as “a significant step towards uncovering the full circumstances of the incident and bringing those responsible to justice.”

“We urge the DSS to intensify its investigation and make the best use of the information obtained from the suspects in its custody,” Governor Alia said.

Governor Alia assured that his administration will continue to collaborate with security agencies to strengthen security in Ayilamo, Logo, and other vulnerable communities across the state.

He appealed to residents of Ayilamo and surrounding areas to “remain calm, vigilant, and law-abiding,” and to provide credible information to security agencies.

“We remain resolute in our determination to protect lives and property, uphold justice, and restore lasting peace across Benue State,” the Governor assured.

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