By Willies Ugo
Billiri, Gombe State – April 28, 2025
Keftin E. Amuga, Labour Party’s gubernatorial candidate in the 2024 elections and Chairman of the Middle Belt Forum in Gombe State, has reiterated calls for community self-defense in the wake of a deadly attack in Billiri Local Government Area.
The appeal follows a suicide truck explosion on Easter Monday, April 21, which claimed at least five lives and injured 13 others. The incident, which occurred during Christian celebrations, has sparked renewed concerns over religiously motivated violence in the region.
Amuga, in a press release on Sunday, described the attack as “barbaric, wicked and inhumane,” alleging it was part of a pattern of targeted assaults against the Christian Tangale community. He claimed similar incidents occurred during Easter in 2019 and Christmas in 2024, all involving vehicle-borne attacks.
The Labour Party chieftain identified the alleged attacker as 28-year-old Usman Muhammad, a resident of the so-called “Afghanistan Quarters” in the state. He criticized security agencies for what he described as a “shallow investigation,” accusing authorities of downplaying the incident as accidental.
Amuga also revisited the unresolved Tangale chieftaincy crisis of 2021, accusing the state government of marginalizing the community by refusing to recognize Dr. Musa Idris—a Christian and the preferred candidate of the Tangale Traditional Council—as the legitimate Mai of Tangale. He alleged that several youths detained during protests over the issue remain in custody, with reports of illness and deaths among them.
“Is Gombe State governed by the Nigerian Constitution or Sharia law?” Amuga asked, calling for legal clarity and an end to what he described as systemic discrimination.
He urged political representatives backed by the Tangale and other indigenous Christian communities to demand justice from Governor Inuwa Yahaya’s administration. His demands include the immediate release of detainees, official recognition of Dr. Idris as traditional ruler, and the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Committee to address long-standing ethnic and religious grievances.
Amuga echoed the earlier call by former Defence Minister Gen. Theophilus Danjuma for communities to defend themselves, warning that failure to act could lead to the loss of ancestral lands and cultural identity.
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