A Nation in Denial: Plateau Bleeds While Leaders Watch
While Nigerians reel under waves of violent attacks, Plateau State’s Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, has broken the silence many leaders have masked with political correctness—declaring the incessant killings in his state not as mere “farmer-herder clashes,” but as what they truly are: genocide.
At an event that should have celebrated Plateau’s vibrant culture and fashion, the governor turned the spotlight on Nigeria’s festering wound—its chronic insecurity and an apathetic federal response that continues to cost innocent lives. Speaking at the Experience Plateau: Art Meets Fashion event in Abuja, Mutfwang said he nearly cancelled the showcase due to the bloodshed back home, particularly in Bokkos Local Government Area, where dozens were murdered in cold blood. Instead, he used the stage to send a bold message to the world.
“Let me be clear: this is not a farmer-herder conflict. It is genocide,” Mutfwang declared, exposing what many government officials have tiptoed around for years. “Powerful forces are behind these atrocities. By the grace of God, we will expose them and bring them to justice.”
But justice, like security, has remained elusive in Plateau and other parts of Nigeria’s Middle Belt. Entire villages have been razed. Families slaughtered in their sleep. Worshippers murdered during night vigils. These are not random attacks—they are systematic, coordinated, and ruthless. And yet, the Nigerian government continues to recycle tired narratives that dismiss these horrors as “clashes” or “misunderstandings.”
The truth is darker and more damning: the state has failed.
Despite repeated promises to combat insecurity, the federal government’s actions—or lack thereof—speak volumes. Communities are left to defend themselves. Security forces arrive long after the damage is done. And while the killers strike with impunity, justice is as distant as the tears of orphans crying into the night.
It is not just about Plateau. From Benue to Zamfara, Kaduna to Niger, Nigerians are paying the price for leadership that has failed to protect its people. What we’re witnessing is not just insecurity—it’s the collapse of state responsibility, the erosion of trust in government, and a growing sense that the lives of ordinary citizens are expendable.
Governor Mutfwang’s decision to speak boldly—even while hosting investors and international dignitaries—deserves attention. His insistence that Plateau “must move forward” while honoring the dead and exposing the truth signals a rare courage in a political landscape often dominated by silence, denial, and appeasement.
Yet speeches alone won’t stop the bloodshed.
There must be action. There must be accountability. Nigeria cannot continue to lose its citizens to killers who operate with calculated precision while the nation’s leaders offer condolences and empty promises. If this is not genocide, what is? If these killers are not terrorists, who are they?
The world is watching. More importantly, history is recording.
The people of Plateau—and all Nigerians—deserve not just peace, but justice. Until the federal government treats these massacres with the seriousness they demand, until perpetrators are arrested, tried, and punished, the bloodbath will continue.
Governor Mutfwang may have lit the fire of truth. The question now is: who will help carry it?
Reference
A Nation in Denial: Plateau Bleeds While Leaders Watch