Taraba State Governor, Agbu Kefas, has lifted the dawn to dusk curfew imposed on Karim-Lamido Local Council. The state government had, last month, imposed the curfew to prevent the mayhem that erupted between Wurkun and Karinjo ethnic groups from spilling to other parts of the council and environs.

Announcing the lifting of the curfew via a statement, yesterday, in Jalingo, through his Chief Press Secretary, Yusuf Sanda, the governor said lifting of the curfew followed the restoration of normalcy in the council.

Apart from the curfew, the governor set up a Peace and Reconciliation Committee to ascertain the root of the crisis and suggest possible solutions. They noted that the governor ordered an end to the curfew “when he received the report of the Peace and Reconciliation Committee on the Karimjo/Wurkum crisis headed by Inuwa Bakari.”

On July 7, 2023, Governor Kefas had relaxed the 24-hour curfew by 12 hours, having reviewed the security situation with the stakeholders of the affected communities.

Expressing satisfaction with the return of peace to the area and readiness of the people to live in harmony with one another, the governor further directed that the peace committee, which metamorphosed into a resettlement committee, to oversee the distribution of relief materials to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) because of the conflict.

Earlier, the committee chairman had told the governor that concerted peace-building efforts by the committee restored normalcy in the area, hence the need to lift the curfew. Elated by the announcement, some locals, who spoke with The Guardian, admitted that the much desired peace “has returned to the council.”