Former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has strongly criticised the federal government for what he describes as continued inaction and a lack of political will in addressing the violence in Plateau State. His comments come in the wake of yet another deadly attack over the weekend, where over 50 residents were reportedly killed in Bokkos Local Government Area.
Dalung, speaking in an interview on Arise TV News, described the attackers as terrorists and said their operations go beyond the common narrative of farmer-herder conflict. He stated, “There is nothing like herder-farmer clashes on the Plateau. These are terrorists. They have enclaves. They grab land, wrestle cattle, and displace natives. In the bush, there is a government, and these places are known.”
He also expressed doubt over the effectiveness of the newly created Ministry of Livestock Development in resolving the deep-rooted conflict. “Let us not be hiding about the Ministry of Livestock. Ministry of Livestock cannot even do anything about this problem,” he said.
Dalung believes the government has consistently failed to label the attackers correctly, arguing that calling the crisis a herder-farmer dispute only worsens the situation. He stated that the actions of the armed groups meet international definitions of genocide.
“It is genocidal because it has met the international definition of genocide. When a group of people attack another group with the intention of wiping them off the face of the earth, it is genocide,” he said. “So what is happening is genocidal.”
He also noted that there was no prior conflict between farmers and herders in the affected areas before the recent attacks. “There was no farm or other animals that were either wrestled by the community or they trespassed into any farmland that resulted in this series of attacks we are hearing.”
Speaking on the limitations of the security forces, Dalung questioned their preparedness and technological capacity. “We couldn’t do anything because there are no access roads… What happened to drones and cameras, other sophisticated gadgets of intelligence gathering?” he asked.
He urged the government to stop assigning ethnic labels to the attackers and to treat them strictly as criminals. “The problem is for the Federal Government to designate these people with their rightful names… Rather, they are criminals.”
Over 40 people were confirmed dead in Hurti, Manguna District of Bokkos LGA during the same week. Around 1,000 people were displaced. This was revealed during a visit by the Secretary to the State Government, Samuel Jatau, to the affected communities.
Several villages including Hurti, Josho, and Daffo were attacked on April 2. Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, has since stated that these killings are not isolated or spontaneous but part of a wider, coordinated attack sponsored by so-called conflict merchants.
