Miyetti Allah Secretary: Politicians, Not Herders, Fueling Plateau Crisis
Saleh Alhassan, the National Secretary of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore Fulani Socio-cultural Association, has accused political figures of being the true instigators of the ongoing crisis in Plateau State, not herders. Alhassan made the remarks on Friday during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, where he addressed issues surrounding national security and the herder-farmer conflict.
Alhassan, a former Secretary-General of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, dismissed the widely circulated narrative that foreign herders are responsible for the violence in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. He called such claims “misleading” and politically driven, emphasizing that the issue was being used as a distraction from the real problem.
“The foreign herder narrative is a ploy to undermine Nigerian herders and a barrier to achieving peace,” Alhassan explained. “The underlying causes of these crises in Plateau are political, not related to grazing or land use. For instance, the Bokkos conflict began over a motorcycle theft, yet it is being portrayed as a farmer-herder clash.”
Alhassan also accused Plateau Governor Caleb Mutfwang of perpetuating the political agenda of his predecessor, Jonah Jang, to push herders out of the state. He further criticized the use of ethnic militias disguised as vigilantes, which, he argued, leaves peaceful herders with no option but to defend themselves.
“Herders are not involved in banditry. However, when law enforcement is neglected and ethnic militias are empowered, herders are left with no choice but to resort to self-defense,” Alhassan said.
As the country approaches another election cycle, Alhassan suggested that some politicians were using the insecurity for personal gain. “The timing of these conflicts is suspicious,” he noted. “This is not even the cropping season in Plateau, yet we are seeing the same narrative of herder-farmer clashes pushed once again. We must address criminality head-on without ethnic bias.”
Herders as Victims of Violence
Read Also:
Alhassan argued that herders, often unarmed, are frequently the primary victims in these conflicts. He pointed to the recent violence in Plateau and Benue states, where herders are often kidnapped or attacked by armed bandits, yet wrongly blamed for the violence.
“Our herders are not armed. The criminals in our forests are bandits, not herders. We’ve lost countless herders and livestock, yet we’re still being accused of perpetrating the violence,” he said. Alhassan added that the images of armed herders circulating online are often not even from Nigeria.
He emphasized the need for more recognition of the suffering of herders, stating, “It’s convenient for security agencies to place the blame on herders, rather than addressing the real cause of the problem. If they arrest anyone, they should show us their nationality, not just their language.”
Alhassan also mentioned that while Miyetti Allah keeps a register of its members, tracking herders is difficult due to their nomadic lifestyle. However, he believes that integrating livestock systems across the country could help resolve the herder-farmer conflict in the long term.
Renewed Violence and Political Responses
The Miyetti Allah Secretary’s comments come amid heightened concern over renewed violence in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. In April 2025, attacks in Plateau’s Bokkos and Bassa local government areas resulted in over 100 deaths. This follows the devastating Christmas Eve massacre of 2023, where at least 150 lives were lost.
In Benue, Governor Hyacinth Alia recently suggested that the attackers were not Nigerians, citing their unfamiliar language and foreign traits. Similarly, Governor Mutfwang of Plateau has pointed to the attackers’ inability to speak any recognized Nigerian language, deepening suspicions about their origins.
In response to the escalating violence, President Bola Tinubu expressed concern and urged Governor Mutfwang to take decisive action to restore peace in the state. President Tinubu also called for unity among political, community, and religious leaders to prevent further retaliatory attacks.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Senate has moved to establish an ad-hoc committee to organize a two-day national security summit in Abuja. This summit will bring together federal, state, and local government officials, traditional leaders, and other stakeholders to develop long-term solutions to the nation’s security challenges.
