Former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has launched a scathing attack on President Bola Tinubu’s administration, accusing it of “complacency” and inaction in the face of escalating violence in Plateau State, labeling the ongoing killings as “genocide.”
Speaking on Arise TV, Dalung’s explosive comments followed a weekend of brutal attacks in Bokkos Local Government Area, where over 50 people were reportedly killed by armed assailants. “There is nothing like herder-farmer clashes on the Plateau. These are terrorists,” Dalung declared, rejecting the common narrative. “They have enclaves. They grab land, wrestle cattle, and displace natives. In the bush, there is a government, and these places are known.”
Dalung dismissed the Federal Government’s creation of the Ministry of Livestock Development as a solution, arguing, “Ministry of Livestock cannot even do anything about this problem.” He attributed the crisis to a “lack of political will” to confront the true nature of the violence.
“If we must be very honest in dealing with the Plateau situation, first, we will have to stop pretending that it is herder-farmers’ clashes. Not at all. It is terrorism. It is genocidal,” Dalung asserted, citing 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 further challenged the effectiveness of security agencies, questioning their reliance on access roads as an excuse for inaction. “I couldn’t fathom that because in a technologically-driven economy like ours, would the issue be that of access roads? What happened to drones and cameras, other sophisticated gadgets of intelligence gathering?”
Dalung called for a decisive shift in how the government addresses the perpetrators. “The problem is for the Federal Government to designate these people with their rightful names, consider them criminals, and stop even attaching ethnic identity to them.”
His comments come amidst a surge in violence, with SaharaReporters reporting at least 10 killed in attacks across five Bokkos communities on Wednesday, just days after 10 more were killed at a wake-keeping ceremony.
The Bokkos Cultural Development Council (BCDC), through Chairman Farmasum Fuddang, condemned the “ongoing ethnic and religious cleansing” of their communities, stating, “In just one week, we have lost over twenty community members due to these marauding terrorists.” Fuddang accused the attackers of attempting to seize land and impose a caliphate.
“Genocide!” Ex-Minister Blasts Tinubu’s ‘Complacency’ Over Plateau Massacre
