News Editor
By Abel Leonard, Lafia
The Alago Ikweyi Gbayi Development Union (AIGDU) has faulted recent comments by the Tor Tiv, His Royal Majesty Prof. James Ayatse, over the ownership of Yelwata and ancestral land claims in Nasarawa State.
In a press statement signed by Hon. Mohammed Oshafu, President of AIGDU, and Hassan A. Ozegya, the Publicity Secretary issued on Saturday in Abuja, the union described the monarch’s remarks, made during President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s condolence visit to Benue State on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, as “frivolous and untrue.”
“The fact is that, although it is currently majorly inhabited by Tiv people, Yelwata is historically an Alago village under Keana Local Government Area of Nasarawa State,” the statement read. “The Alago and Gwandara tribes were the original settlers before the Tiv people later joined.”
AIGDU said the Tor Tiv’s claim that Yelwata is part of Guma Local Government Area of Benue State contradicts both historical records and modern cartographic data.
“Recent Google Map data and colonial records confirm that Yelwata lies within Nasarawa State, as originally demarcated,” the group added.
Reacting to the monarch’s claim that Tiv people were dispossessed of ancestral lands in Keana, Obi, and Awe LGAs, the union said the Tiv have no ancestral rights to those areas.
“The Alago founders of Keana and Obi are the owners of the lands, while their descendants are the inheritors of the ancestral titleship,” the statement noted. “The Tiv were brought to Keana by the 25th Osana, HRH Osana Eladoga Onyatikpo, between 1852 and 1862, as artisanal workers from the Abinsi area in present-day Benue State.”
Citing historical accounts, AIGDU said the Tiv people themselves admitted to meeting the Jukun, Alago, and Mighili already established in the area.
The union called on President Tinubu to direct the National Boundary Commission to undertake physical demarcation of the Nasarawa-Benue boundary in line with extant instruments.
“This will ensure clarity of jurisdiction and help avert further infringement on peace, security, and governance in the area,” the union stated.
