- Middle Belt Forum warns of genocide following renewed killings in Plateau State.
- MBF calls on the Nigerian government and international community to act urgently to end attacks in the Middle Belt region.
- The Tyoshin Strategic Group raises alarm over collapsing schools in Benue due to herdsmen attacks.
- President Tinubu assures Nigerians of renewed commitment to tackle banditry and insecurity in northern Nigeria.
The Middle Belt Forum (MBF) has condemned the recent attack in Plateau State, which left 13 people dead, describing it as part of an ongoing and coordinated effort to wipe out indigenous populations in the Middle Belt region.
In a statement issued by its National Spokesperson, Luka Binniyat, the MBF labelled the killings in Rachas village, Heipang District of Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, as a “horrifying campaign of extermination.” Binniyat said the scale and pattern of the violence point to a deliberate attempt to seize ancestral lands and erase the identity of the native people.
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“What we are witnessing is genocide, a systematic and sustained effort to destroy entire communities,” Binniyat said, adding that the MBF represents indigenous peoples across North-Central Nigeria and parts of Taraba, Gombe, Adamawa, Southern Kebbi, Southern Bauchi, Southern Kaduna, and Southern Borno, who are “neither Hausa, Fulani, nor Kanuri.”
The group cited the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, arguing that the killings, destruction, and displacement in the Middle Belt fit the UN’s definition of genocide. Binniyat further alleged that the attacks were a continuation of an old jihad, now executed by extremist groups such as Boko Haram, ISWAP, and other Fulani-based armed factions.
The MBF called on both the Nigerian government and the international community to intervene swiftly and protect vulnerable communities before the situation worsens.
Meanwhile, in Benue State, the Tyoshin Strategic Group (TSG) has raised concerns over the collapse of public primary and secondary education in Gwer-West Local Government Area due to frequent herdsmen attacks.
During a meeting with Gwer-West Council Chairman, Victor Torsaa Ormin, the group’s leader, Dr. Felix Atume, revealed that only five public primary schools remain functional in the entire council. He described the situation as alarming and a major setback for the educational development of children in the area.
Atume appealed to the state government to relocate internally displaced persons (IDPs) currently occupying school buildings in affected communities such as Kula, Jimba, Aondoana, Achagh, Atukpu, Naka, Camp Nagi, and Agagbe, so that learning activities can resume. He also proposed converting damaged schools into mega institutions to accommodate more pupils and setting up temporary classrooms for displaced children.
In response to rising insecurity in northern Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to ending banditry and restoring peace across the country.
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Speaking through the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, at an APC interactive session in Bida, Niger State, the President assured Nigerians that security agencies have been directed to take all necessary measures to restore stability.
Idris, who also chairs the APC campaign council for the upcoming Niger local government elections, said President Tinubu remains focused on protecting lives and property while implementing reforms to improve the economy.
