…Calls for UN-led probe as fresh massacre hits Plateau State
The Middle Belt Forum (MBF) has issued a fresh warning over what it described as a “horrifying and escalating campaign of extermination” against the indigenous peoples of Central Nigeria, calling for urgent international intervention to halt what it termed an unfolding genocide.
In a strongly worded statement released on Sunday, 19 October 2025, and signed by its National Spokesman, Luka Binniyat, the Forum condemned the killing of 13 members of the Berom ethnic nationality in Rachas village, Heipang District, Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State, describing it as “a continuation of the systematic effort to wipe out entire communities.”
“What is unfolding across our land is nothing short of genocide. This is the systematic, organised, and sustained effort to wipe out entire communities, seize ancestral territories, and erase native identities,” the MBF said.
The Forum, which represents indigenous nationalities of the North Central region and parts of the North-East and North-West, said the killings fit the international definition of genocide as stated in the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
“By this international definition, what is happening today in the Middle Belt of Nigeria fits every criterion of genocide,” the statement read.
According to the Forum, the ongoing violence across states like Benue, Plateau, Taraba, Southern Kaduna, and parts of Niger and Nasarawa, is part of “a renewed jihad turned genocide,” allegedly waged by descendants of the early Fulani and Kanuri invaders through armed groups such as Boko Haram, ISWAP, and various militia networks.
“In Benue State, the indigenous Tiv, Idoma, Agatu, and Igede peoples have endured unrelenting massacres since 2016. According to official state figures, over 6,000 people have been killed, with more than 2 million displaced since 2015,” the MBF stated.
It also highlighted “routine and devastating” attacks in Plateau, where “more than 1,200 natives, mostly Berom, Irigwe, and Mwaghavul, were murdered in coordinated night raids between April and August 2023,” adding that “no perpetrators have been brought to justice.”
In Southern Kaduna, the Forum said over 3,500 people had been killed since 2015, with hundreds of villages burnt and farmlands destroyed. It also cited widespread displacements in Taraba, Niger, Gombe, and parts of Kebbi and Bauchi, describing the pattern as “coordinated and ideologically driven.”
The MBF accused the Nigerian government of complicity through inaction, saying that its “persistent failure to arrest, prosecute, and punish the perpetrators makes it morally and politically complicit.”
“Even more disturbing is the pattern of state pardon granted to known bandits and militia leaders, many of whom are received with open celebrations organised by State Governors who are Fulani and Kanuri as if they are heroes,” the statement said. “This practice emboldens killers and signals to victims that their lives do not matter.”
The Forum outlined several indicators it said point to genocide, including the targeting of specific ethnic and religious communities, destruction of farmlands, occupation of native lands, and the deliberate failure of the state to protect victims.
“This is not mere banditry or farmer-herder conflict. It is a coordinated and ideologically driven attempt to annihilate indigenous nationalities of the Middle Belt,” it declared.
To address the crisis, the MBF called for a United Nations-led independent inquiry into the killings, immediate military operations to reclaim occupied territories, resettlement and compensation for victims, and official recognition of the violence as genocide.
It also urged the Nigerian government to designate and disband Fulani ethnic militias as a terror group, saying that anything short of decisive action “would be a betrayal of the nation’s founding ideals and a death sentence for its indigenous populations.”
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