The Killing Fields on the Plateau

It has happened again. On Sunday, March 30, another round of killings was unleashed on Plateau state. Since September 2001, “Plateau state” and “killings” have so often appeared in the same sentence, usually next to each other. Different estimates suggest that over 50,000 deaths have been recorded between then and now. The September 2001 crisis led to over 1,000 deaths, and subsequent killings have been similarly brutal. They used to be largely in Jos, but the advent of banditry and terrorism has shifted the killing fields to rural areas, many of which are inaccessible by road, making swift security response difficult and ineffective. It is, to put it mildly, a sad story.

I have closely followed the history of the Plateau conflict for decades. If you ask me the fundamental cause or the solution, I would be lost. I have a faint idea, but there are different triggers at different times. Sometimes, it is politics. Other times, it is pure aggression or hate. It is inevitably framed as a religious war, but it is principally a conflict between “indigenes” and “settlers” — an endless continuation of the precolonial tribal wars that used to be commonplace elsewhere. The segregation is not unique to Plateau. There is always a new town for “settlers” across Nigeria. In the north, many southerners live in Sabon Gari (“new town”). In the south, many northerners live in a variant of it.

For instance, in highly cosmopolitan Lagos, there are parts where Yoruba dominate and there are parts with high non-Yoruba numbers. Ordinarily, this is nothing strange. It is commonplace all over the world. Outside Nigeria, foreign demographics tend to live together and dominate parts of a city or town. Asians dominate Birmingham, England’s second largest city. In the US, Latinos dominate Florida, California and Texas. In South Africa, where xenophobia has been on the rise in recent years, there is a huge Nigerian population in the Johannesburg suburbs of Hillbrow, Yeoville, and Randburg. Children born to “settlers” and immigrants may see themselves as “indigenes”. It is anthropology.

In the case of Plateau state, the “indigenes” are the predominantly Christian ethnic groups such as Berom, Ngas, Tarok, and Mwaghavul, while the “settlers” are the Fulani and associated groups who are almost entirely Muslims. They are not divided only by ethnicity — they are also fragmented by religion. These are two extremely toxic divisions that are unmanageable in many societies. The frequent violent conflicts in Kaduna, Benue, Taraba and Plateau states are triggered by ingrained ethno-religious hostility that blows up all the time. Curiously, there are also ethno-religious divides in other northern states such as Gombe, Kwara, Kogi, Adamawa and Nasarawa but violence is very rare.

In trying to understand the Plateau situation, I have spoken to people on both sides of the divide over the years. The Fulani insist that they should not be classified as “settlers” and that they have every right in the state like any other ethnic group. Their history in Jos dates back to the 18th century when they settled as nomadic herders and became agro-pastoralists. Hausa/Fulani workers were also attracted to the tin mining industry in Jos in the early part of the 20th century, similar to how Nigerians are flooding to the US and UK for care jobs. Jos north became their home. They call themselves the “Jasawa”. Many generations of the Jasawa know no other place as home.

On the other hand, the “indigenes” are resolved that the Jasawa are “settlers” and should know their boundary. A Berom man told me after a bloodbath years ago, circa 2008: “You know Fulani people… anywhere they go, they want to dominate, no matter how small they are. They want to take your land, take your farm, control everywhere. They went to Ilorin and became the ruling house. They went to Borgu and did the same. We are saying we will never allow the Fulani to come and dominate us and take our land. They didn’t conquer us and they will never conquer us. We will defend our land with the last drop of our blood.” They are convinced the Fulani have an unfinished jihad business.

This is chilling. Both sides are very emotional about their positions. What this means is that it is not a conflict that can be easily resolved. If anything, I will class it alongside the Israel/Palestine conflict. Any conflict where there are eternal hardliners — riding on ethnic and religious animosity — peace will be near impossible. The Plateau conflict is a story of attacks and counter-attacks, reprisals and counter-reprisals. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. No retreat, no surrender. That is why I marvel at cries that US President Donald Trump should send drones to Plateau to bomb people. This is a poor understanding of what is going on. This is tribal war, not just banditry or terrorism.

Experts will tell you that it is not every conflict that can be resolved. Some just have to be managed, like high blood pressure. Use your medication. Change your diet. Adopt a better lifestyle. But the disease is still there. When you fail to do the needful, your blood pressure will rise again. You can end up with a stroke or sudden death. It is a condition — there is no cure, just management. It is the same with certain conflicts. Agreed, federal government should step up security in the state. Security agencies, already stretched in the north-east and north-west, should secure the state much better, deploying sophisticated technology, such as drones and CCTV, and what-have-you. That is important.

It will be of immense help, I suppose, if the perpetrators of the violence are brought to book. But from experience — dating back to 2001 — I don’t know how many culprits have faced the law. This breeds impunity. It will also be comforting to trace the source of the arms to the combatants. We also have to improve access to critical infrastructure in these communities. It is challenging to provide security where the roads are unmotorable. We need electricity and broadband access to operate CCTV cameras. Above all, the political leadership in these communities must genuinely embrace reconciliation. We made some progress a few years ago but things have gone south again.

When you have to enforce peace with guns, that is no peace. It is the peace of the graveyard. It is unsustainable. There must be genuine handshakes across the divides. For as long as the leaders maintain their hard lines, the next killings are just around the corner. No military force in the world can enforce it. When there is genuine peace, you don’t need police to be patrolling the villages every hour. We used to have the deadly Ogbe-Ijoh crisis in Delta state, as well as the Ife-Modakeke (Osun state) and Aguleri/Umuleri conflicts (Anambra state). The crises have been relatively under control for years. What mechanism did we use to achieve this stability? Can it be replicated elsewhere?

How can we change the Plateau narrative? I wish I knew. But I see encouraging signs. Sa’idu Murtala, a Muslim garden egg seller, said a Christian saved his life in the latest round of killings. In 2018, the late Abdullahi Abubakar, a Muslim cleric, sheltered 300 Christians in his mosque during a similar attack. This tells me there is still a seed of love in a community filled with hate. How can we multiply this seed? How can we overcome hate with love? The political and religious leaders of these hate-filled communities will have to take the lead in building the peace. I bet you, this will achieve far more than drones and missiles. For now, though, we need boots on the ground. But for how long?

AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…

DEMOCRATIC INCONGRUENCE

First, the Labour Party. Then, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). And now, the African Democratic Congress (ADC). I do not think that the hands of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are clean in the leadership crises bedevilling opposition parties. The ruling party is either masterminding or taking advantage of internal divisions. Still, I feel the ADC leaders left their backside open by not dealing with the Nafiu Bala Gombe issue conclusively — what Yoruba call “ageku ejo” (a half-killed snake). I disagree with INEC on its interpretation of “status quo” — and I expect the courts to finally settle the matter. The opposition must find a way out. Our democracy needs a strong opposition. Essential.

JOS A MOMENT

President Bola Tinubu has been criticised for not spending enough time in Plateau state during his condolence visit on Thursday. In fact, he did not leave the Jos airport. It was supposed to be a visit to the affected communities, but the victims came to meet him at the airport instead. Presidency said it was because he had a tight schedule for the day and there were no night flight facilities at the Jos airport. If they had asked me for advice, I would have suggested an early morning trip. That would have given Tinubu more time. But since the Chadian president was also visiting the same day, I would have suggested that the trip be moved to Friday. Where there is a will, there is always a way. Simple.

SURE BANKERS?

At the end of the recapitalisation deadline, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced that 33 banks met the revised minimum capital requirements. The rest are undergoing legal and verification procedures. The banks raised a total of N4.65 trillion to recapitalise, 73 percent of which was raised locally and 27 percent abroad. Coming 20 years after Prof Charles Soludo-led CBN set N25 billion as minimum capital requirement, the new base of between N50 billion and N500 billion is expected to “strengthen the resilience of the financial system”. Now that the banks are better resourced, should Nigerians expect better intermediation and greater connection with ordinary customers? Observing.

NO COMMENT

On March 17, President Tinubu directed his appointees to resign by March 31 if they want to contest in the 2027 elections “pursuant to the provisions of Section 88(1) of the Electoral Act, 2026”, as well as the INEC timetable. This baffled many Nigerians and political appointees. I decided to read the law myself and this is what I found: “A political appointee at any level shall not be a voting delegate or be voted for at the convention, congress, and primaries of any political party for the nomination of candidates for any election”. That means an appointee has to resign to contest or be a delegate in the primaries. No mention of the number of days. Or are my glasses getting weak? Hahahaha…