•Chairman denies indicting Fulani
•Northern democrats warn against negotiating with bandits
By John Alechenu with agency report
JOS — The Chairman of the Plateau State Fact-Finding Committee on Incessant Attacks and Killings, Major General Nicholas Rogers (rtd), has revealed that no fewer than 11,000 people lost their lives and at least 420 communities were destroyed in the state over the last two decades of violence.
The disclosure was made in the committee’s report submitted last week to Governor Caleb Mutfwang at the Government House, Jos.
The 10-member panel was inaugurated in May 2025 to investigate the root causes of the crisis that has plagued Plateau State since 2001.
According to the findings, 13 local government areas have suffered repeated attacks within the period under review, with entire communities sacked and thousands displaced.
However, controversy trailed the submission of the report after sections of the media quoted the committee as blaming Fulani herders, particularly those from neighbouring states, as the primary perpetrators of the killings.
At a briefing yesterday in Jos, General Rogers dismissed the reports, stressing that the crisis could not be pinned on any single ethnic group.
He said : “The crisis in Plateau State is not domiciled in any ethnic group. All the ethnic groups are involved. It is wrong to pinpoint any particular tribe and say it is responsible. We have all made mistakes in one way or the other, and it is those mistakes that led to this issue of crisis.
“It is wrong to insinuate that only Fulani are responsible. We have submitted our report to the governor, and it is only the governor who has access to the recommendations. The paper is not in the public domain. So where will anyone see the recommendations claiming one particular tribe was indicted?”
The committee chairman stressed that reprisal attacks were largely fueling the cycle of violence and urged elites and community leaders to caution their youth against taking laws into their own hands.
“We advise the elite to always instruct their youth to report cases to the relevant authorities and allow investigations to be conducted properly. We urge people to lay down their arms,” Rogers appealed.
He further called on the Plateau State government to show the necessary political will to implement the recommendations of the report to restore lasting peace to the state.
Negotiating with bandits
Meanwhile, the League of Northern Democrats, LND, has warned against rising calls for negotiations with bandits terrorising northern Nigeria, insisting that dialogue must only occur under strict, verifiable conditions.
In a resolution issued after a meeting in Abuja LND’s Assistant National Publicity Secretary, Mohmood Hassan, said granting criminals a free pass in the name of peace would amount to legitimizing terror.
“True peace processes require military-secured areas, enforced ceasefires, neutral venues, third-party verification of disarmament, and strict civilian protection. The Katsina episode ignored these fundamentals and undermined both security and accountability”, the statement read.
The group urged Northern governors to rise to the challenge of securing their states, stressing that excuses of structural constraints were no justification for failing to protect citizens.
The LND further appealed to stakeholders to focus on repositioning the North within the Nigerian mainstream by addressing insecurity and other existential challenges.
It also commended the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the transparent handling of its ongoing political party registration exercise and urged it to sustain the credibility needed to strengthen public confidence in the electoral system.
The post 11,000 persons, 420 communities lost to Plateau violence— Fact-finding c’ttee appeared first on Vanguard News.
