….Stakeholders urge probe of terrorists’ financiers to end attacks
By Henry Umoru
ABUJA—A Senate report has revealed that between 2001 and 2025, about 11,749 people were killed in Plateau State, North Central Nigeria, while 420 communities were attacked across 13 Local Government Areas. Over 136 communities were reportedly abandoned by original residents and occupied by strangers.
The findings, contained in the Interim Report of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on National Security Summit (Zonal Public Hearing), were presented by Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central).
Stakeholders at the North Central Security Summit said the violence has displaced 25,528 households, destroyed over 35 churches, and led to the deaths of 33 pastors. They described the attacks not merely as farmer-herder conflicts but as “systematic ethnic cleansing and territorial displacement aimed at erasing indigenous Plateau communities from their ancestral lands.”
“The North-Central Zonal Public Hearing held in Jos on Thursday, 27th November 2025, revealed that military intelligence shows asymmetrical warfare is technology-driven and well-funded,” the report stated. “To tackle Boko Haram, bandits, and armed Fulani herdsmen, it is necessary to unravel their sources of funding, identify financiers, cut off their supply of arms, and prosecute those involved. The proceeds should be used to compensate survivors.”
Stakeholders also called for an Independent Commission of Inquiry “comprising people of proven integrity, knowledgeable in nation-building and conflict management, to investigate allegations of genocide, persecution, and violent criminal attacks with a view to finding lasting solutions.”
They highlighted that security challenges in Nigeria stem partly from the lack of respect among diverse communities. “Prior to colonialism, tribal nationalities lived under their traditional rulers and native laws. Our Constitution should recognize these traditional institutions and uphold native laws and customs,” they said.
The report further linked Plateau’s security crises to the presence of solid minerals and other economic resources, which, combined with greed and collaboration by some non-indigenous actors, fueled attacks and displacement. Stakeholders condemned invasions carried out mostly at night to steal, kill, and destroy before resettling in villages.
“The Constitution recognizes State Governors and Local Government Chairmen as Chief Security Officers, but they lack control over security apparatus in their domains. State police and strengthened local vigilante systems are necessary to confront these well-armed assailants,” the report noted.The hearing also acknowledged that while the Fulani community historically coexisted peacefully as pastoralists and agro-pastoralists, criminal elements within the group have contributed to conflicts, leading to stereotyping of innocent Fulani residents.
The report concluded with a call for a centralized, well-equipped, and coordinated national security structure, emphasizing intelligence gathering, surveillance, and cross-border collaboration to curb inter-state crimes.
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