11,000 persons, 420 communities lost to Plateau violence— Fact-finding c’ttee

•Chairman denies indicting Fulani

•Northern democrats pass against negotiating with bandits

By John Alechenu with bureau report

JOS — The Chairman of the Plateau State Fact-Finding Committee connected Incessant Attacks and Killings, Major General Nicholas Rogers (rtd), has revealed that nary less than 11,000 radical mislaid their lives and astatine slightest 420 communities were destroyed successful the authorities implicit the past 2 decades of violence.

The disclosure was made successful the committee’s study submitted past week to Governor Caleb Mutfwang astatine the Government House, Jos.

The 10-member sheet was inaugurated successful May 2025 to analyse the basal causes of the situation that has plagued Plateau State since 2001.

According to the findings, 13 section authorities areas person suffered repeated attacks wrong the play nether review, with full communities sacked and thousands displaced.

However, contention trailed the submission of the study aft sections of the media quoted the committee arsenic blaming Fulani herders, peculiarly those from neighbouring states, arsenic the superior perpetrators of the killings.

At a briefing yesterday successful Jos, General Rogers dismissed the reports, stressing that the situation could not beryllium pinned connected immoderate azygous taste group.

He said : “The situation successful Plateau State is not domiciled successful immoderate taste group. All the taste groups are involved. It is incorrect to pinpoint immoderate peculiar people and accidental it is responsible. We person each made mistakes successful 1 mode oregon the other, and it is those mistakes that led to this contented of crisis.

“It is incorrect to insinuate that lone Fulani are responsible. We person submitted our study to the governor, and it is lone the politician who has entree to the recommendations. The insubstantial is not successful the nationalist domain. So wherever volition anyone spot the recommendations claiming 1 peculiar people was indicted?”

The committee president stressed that reprisal attacks were mostly fueling the rhythm of unit and urged elites and assemblage leaders to caution their younker against taking laws into their ain hands.

“We counsel the elite to ever instruct their younker to study cases to the applicable authorities and let investigations to beryllium conducted properly. We impulse radical to laic down their arms,” Rogers appealed.

He further called connected the Plateau State authorities to amusement the indispensable governmental volition to instrumentality the recommendations of the study to reconstruct lasting bid to the state.

Negotiating with bandits

Meanwhile, the League of Northern Democrats, LND, has warned against rising calls for negotiations with bandits terrorising bluish Nigeria, insisting that dialog indispensable lone hap nether strict, verifiable conditions.

In a solution issued aft a gathering successful Abuja LND’s Assistant National Publicity Secretary, Mohmood Hassan, said granting criminals a escaped walk successful the sanction of bid would magnitude to legitimizing terror.

“True bid processes necessitate military-secured areas, enforced ceasefires, neutral venues, third-party verification of disarmament, and strict civilian protection. The Katsina occurrence ignored these fundamentals and undermined some information and accountability”, the connection read.

The radical urged Northern governors to emergence to the situation of securing their states, stressing that excuses of structural constraints were nary justification for failing to support citizens.

The LND further appealed to stakeholders to absorption connected repositioning the North wrong the Nigerian mainstream by addressing insecurity and different existential challenges.

It besides commended the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the transparent handling of its ongoing governmental enactment registration workout and urged it to prolong the credibility needed to fortify nationalist assurance successful the electoral system.

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