The Aku-Uka of Wukari in Taraba State, Dr Ishaku Adda Ali, says communities linked to the historic Kwararafa kingdom are facing escalating insecurity from bandits. Speaking at the 2026 Kwararafa People’s Assembly in Abuja over the weekend, he calls the situation an “attack” on the old Kwararafa confederacy and says it has emptied communities, displaced residents, and disrupted everyday life.
He links the security crisis to wider conditions across the Niger-Benue region, including banditry, herder-farmer violence, kidnapping, and displacement. He says farmers cannot reach farms, traders cannot access markets, children cannot attend school, and ancestral homes have been destroyed. Ali also urges sustained assistance reaching affected communities rather than ending at “communiques and conferences.”
Outlets describe the gathering as an effort to revive unity among groups that once formed a common political house under Kwararafa, including Jukun and others across multiple states. The Nigerian Eye reports Taraba State Governor Agbu Kefas co-convenes and stresses the assembly is not a political platform, while also highlighting calls by other traditional rulers for cooperation and shared identity.
