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From Jude Owuamanam, Jos
The recent killings in Bindi/Jebbu village in Riyom Local Government of Plateau State has created a humanitarian disaster, with no fewer than 2,447 people displaced.
No fewer than 27 persons are reported to have killed when persons suspected to be Fulani herdsmen attacked the village on Monday, July 14.
Speaking at a press conference at the NUJ Press Centre in Jos on Thursday, the President of Berom Youth Moulders-Association, Barr. Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri, said that the community lost property worth millions of naira.
In the text of the briefing entitled, ‘Compromise and Complacency in Another Massacre in Bindi/Jebbu Village of Riyom Local Government Area, Plateau State,’ co-signed by Secretary General of Berom Youth Moulders-Association, Bature Iliya Adazaram, Berom youths described the recent attack as carefully planned and coordinated.
They said, “The reign of terror on the Plateau and elsewhere all around the Middle Belt has produced a curious pattern that is now well established, and that is: attack, displace, and occupy, thereby making the areas uninhabitable for the original inhabitants.”
The youths decried what they described as the culpability of the military, as the personnel were duly informed of the recent attack.
The statement said, “Massacres and killings in Plateau State, such as the one at Bindi/Jebbu of Riyom Local Government Area in the early hours of 14th July, 2025, where 27 people lost their lives, property worth millions of naira destroyed, and livestock carted away, is no longer news.
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“This ugly and orchestrated campaign is now a subject for ‘politically correct’ commentary, rationalisation, and outright mystification, deliberately constructed to suit the idiosyncrasies and the ethnic egoism of the sponsors and perpetrators of these heinous crimes who, in our considered view, have a major appetite to continue their campaign of territorial expansion.
“No wonder, it is incontrovertible that the reality on the ground for victims is that their communities, villages, and hamlets have continued to suffer killings, displacements, and disruption of their lives under the reign of terror that is usually justified on the platter of clashes over alleged animal theft, claims of missing persons, and some other sundry issues.
“The reign of terror on the Plateau and elsewhere all around the Middle Belt has produced a curious pattern that is now well established, and that is: attack, displace, and occupy, thereby making the areas uninhabitable for the original inhabitants.
“Secondly, all military operations have remained reactive in nature, with no single incident of being ahead of the attackers. Though most of these attacks appear as isolated incidents, they, however, speak to a bigger picture with a systematic strategy of actualisation. Therefore, the massacre in Bindi/Jebbu should be appropriately appraised within the outlined context.
“The following facts are now evident from the Bindi/Jebbu massacre of 14th July, 2025:
1. Undeniable receipt and acknowledgement of early warning from stakeholders to the Sector 6 Commander of Operation Safe Haven-OPSH, Lt Col Thomas Paave;
2. 27 people lost their lives, many injured, property worth millions of naira destroyed, livestock carted away, and over 2,447 people displaced;
3. Bindi/Jebbu is serviced by at least two nearby military posts, which are less than 3 kilometres away from both ends;
4. Bindi/Jebbu is situated along a trunk ‘A’ federal road. Therefore, complaints over the terrain or accessibility to the village by operatives of Operation Safe Haven are inexcusable;
5. The 27 killed and the related destruction of property occurred within the same vicinity where the Reinforcement Team stationed itself before and during the attack.”
The youths called for a thorough investigation into the incident and to ascertain the level of culpability of the military.
“The Berom Youth Moulders-Association demands as follows:
1. The constitution of an independent panel of investigation to clearly identify the individuals and collective roles, as well as find out and unravel the level of compromise and complacency of the Sector 6 Commander, Lt Col Thomas Paave, and the Reinforcement Team that was deployed.
2. Perpetrators and their sponsors should be identified and openly prosecuted, as well as immediate unconditional release of our youths, who are under continued unlawful detention after indiscriminate arrests made in Sagas/Gyembus, Jol, Gwon, and other places without arraignment, as this constitutes a gross violation of their fundamental human and other constitutional rights enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and other international instruments that guarantee rights of human persons irrespective of ethno-religious and geographical definitions.”
