Plateau Fulani Forum Threatens Legal Action Over Blame for Violence

The Concerned Plateau Fulani Forum (CPFF) has vowed to take legal action against individuals, government officials, and security agencies who blame Fulani communities for violent attacks and killings in Plateau State.

In a statement issued on Sunday and made available to pressmen, the group’s Coordinator, Saleh Haruna, said the frequent attribution of violence to Fulani herders amounted to ethnic profiling and was designed to demonise and marginalise them.

Haruna accused government officials and security agencies of being too quick to label Fulani people as “militias” or “bandits” without carrying out proper investigations.

“We are not happy with the regular tagging of Fulani people as bandits, criminals and aggressors whenever there is violence or attacks in any part of Plateau State,” Haruna said.

“It is becoming a pattern, and a dangerous one, that perpetrators are hastily identified as Fulani without credible evidence, while ignoring the fact that our people have also suffered losses of lives and cattle over the years.”

The CPFF particularly faulted the recent report of the fact-finding committee set up by Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, chaired by retired Major General Nicholas Rogers.

The report alleged that between 2001 and 2025, Fulani militias were responsible for the destruction of at least 450 communities across 13 local government areas and the deaths of more than 12,000 people.

Haruna rejected the findings, describing them as “outlandish” and one-sided. “To us, such claims were only meant to paint our people as unrepentant aggressors and set us up for further attacks.

There was no part of the report that acknowledged the killings of Fulani people in Mangu, Bokkos, Riyom, Barkin Ladi and other parts of Plateau State, nor the thousands of cattle rustled from our communities,” he argued.

He further questioned the objectivity of the committee, asking: “What did the committee aim to achieve? What was its true mandate? Was it only to look at one side and forget the other?”

The CPFF warned that it would no longer accept what it described as “systematic profiling” of Fulani people in the state.

“Henceforth, we will institute legal actions against anyone who blames our people for acts of violence in Plateau State,” Haruna declared.

The group’s statement comes amid heightened tension in Plateau, where recurring clashes between farming communities and herders have led to decades of violence, displacement, and mistrust.