The Chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Barkin Ladi branch, Idris Saidu Adamu, has called for an end to collective blame and ethnic profiling in the handling of criminal incidents in Plateau State.
Adamu said crimes should be investigated on the basis of evidence and due process rather than the ethnic or religious identity of suspected perpetrators.
He made the call during an interaction with journalists in Plateau State, where he identified collective blame, civilian vigilantism, identity-based attacks, social media incitement and the treatment of displaced communities as issues contributing to continued violence in the state.
“We are having criminals in all parts. Every tribe, every religion has criminals,” he said.
According to him, civilians taking the law into their own hands after security incidents has worsened tensions between communities.
Adamu claimed that while the Fulani community supports the prosecution of members suspected of committing crimes, some other communities sometimes resist the arrest or prosecution of suspects from their groups.
“As far as the Fulani community in Plateau State is concerned, we have never protested the arrest of any criminal. In fact, we want the law to take its course on any criminal that is caught,” he said.
He alleged that such resistance could allow criminal suspects to receive communal protection and put additional pressure on security agencies.
‘If suspect is not caught, it must be Fulani’
The MACBAN chairman also accused some people of attributing crimes to Fulani people whenever suspects had not been identified.
“If there is any ordinary incident that happens, be it a kidnapping, be it a robbery, anything, any criminality that everyone is capable of doing, if the suspect or the criminal is not caught, the final conclusion to the negative crimes is that it must have been committed by a Fulani,” he said.
He said such assumptions could turn criminal investigations into ethnic confrontations and trigger retaliatory attacks.
Adamu cited the kidnapping of the father of former Plateau State Governor Joshua Dariye in Mushere as an example of what he described as the danger of assigning blame before investigations are concluded.
He claimed the incident was initially attributed to Fulani suspects but that subsequent investigations, according to his account, pointed to people from the victim’s community.
“The first thing they did that time was that it was Fulani that kidnapped him. But investigations later revealed that it was his close ally, his tribesman, that kidnapped him under the leadership of one Jethro Bassey,” he said.
Adamu also referred to the violence that followed the killing of Pastor Mimang Lekyil in the Kwakas-Mushere area in May 2025.
He alleged that Fulani residents and their properties were attacked following accusations against members of the community.
“Instead of them to just let the allegation and fall back and allow security agencies to investigate, they came out and protested it. They began to pull in first that Fulani houses and they burn houses. They killed people on the 27th of May 2025,” he said.
Adamu further alleged that Fulani residents were subsequently forced to leave Mushere Central and neighbouring communities.
“So they chased all Fulani people out of Mushere central and all other neighboring areas in Mushere city,” he said.
He also alleged that women confronted security personnel during the violence, while some soldiers were wounded and houses were burnt.
‘Identity cannot become a death sentence’
Adamu said ethnic and religious identity should not be used as a basis for attacking people travelling through Plateau.
“Passengers, people who are in public transit, that are moving from one place to another, they don’t even know what is happening where. They will be singled out of public bus and killed on highway because of their identity,” he said.
He called for such attacks to stop, stressing that ethnicity or religion does not establish criminal responsibility.
The MACBAN chairman also raised concerns about social media posts which he alleged were being used to mobilise people for violence.
“You will see people that are supposed to be leaders, people that are supposed to take responsibility for this trend, they will come out and gather people and record it and put on social media,” he said.
He urged security agencies to investigate credible allegations of incitement to violence and ensure that perpetrators are held accountable.
MACBAN seeks return of displaced Fulani
Adamu also criticised what he described as unequal attention to the resettlement of displaced communities.
He called on government to apply its peace and resettlement policies equally to displaced Nigerians, regardless of their ethnicity or religion.
“You cannot be segregating among people who are supposed to be your subjects,” he said.
According to him, some Fulani families who had lived in Plateau for years, owned homes and farmland and established livelihoods were forced to leave their communities during periods of violence.
“Some of them are now taking refuge in Bauchi, some are in other parts of Plateau,” he said.
Adamu urged the government to address the return and resettlement of displaced Fulani residents alongside other displaced communities.
He said lasting peace in Plateau would require credible investigations, prosecution based on evidence, protection of civilians and measures to prevent mob action and retaliatory attacks.
“Identity cannot become a death sentence. Crime must be treated as crime, not ethnicity,” Adamu said.
