All may not have been heard of the victory of the Nasarawa State Governor, Umaru Tanko Al-makura in the 2011 gubernatorial election as the Eggon spiritual group, known as Ombatse, yesterday, alleged that it was behind the success of? Al-Makura in the election.
Addressing newsmen at the correspondents’ chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) office on Jos/Lafia road, the legal adviser to the group, Barrister Zachary Zamani Allumaga, said the prayers offered by the group before the 2011 elections brought the governor into his present position.
He explained that, that was why the tribe was given three commissioners and three special advisers which has never happened in the history of the state, pointing out that all other tribes in the state also have their own spiritual groups.
Barrister Allumaga, while debunking the rumour making the rounds that the group was responsible for the killing and burning of houses in the recent Agyaragu communal crisis, challenged the police authorities in the state to identify Ombaste members who were arrested as a result of the crisis.
He said that the group was a spiritual one where both Christians and Moslems are members, adding that they are out for both spiritual and political cleansing of the society and the country at large.
Barrister Allumaga said all the allegations about the group after the unrest at Agyaragu in which 10 persons lost their lives, were attempts to dent the image of the group, saying Ombatse is peace-loving while its objective is to ensure peace in the state in particular and Nigeria in general.