Inaugurated on 20 May 2025, the ‘Facts Finding Committee on the Incessant Attacks, Killings and Destruction of Plateau Communities’ submitted its report to Governor Caleb Mannaseh Mutfwang last week. Because of prior commitments, I could not make it to Jos for the ceremony. But I learnt a lot from the assignment. The crisis on the Plateau, as we found out, is hydra-headed, with everyone choosing to see the part that suits their narrative: illegal mining which often involves brutal attacks, cattle rustling (in some cases, poisoning) that spirals into revenge killings, unprovoked attacks and land grabbing by violent herders, ungoverned spaces that have created an epidemic of industrial scale kidnappings by amorphous groups. Etc.

The mandate given us by Governor Mutfwang was to establish the number of communities that have been attacked and the approximate number of casualties from 2005 to date; establish the identities of persons who perpetrated the attacks and their possible motives and sponsors; and identify possible routes for bandits into the state and recommend measures to limit their access. We were also to recommend appropriate succour to identified victims and communities and suggest how to stop further occurrences. On the day of our inauguration, Mutfwang specifically charged us “to conduct an in-depth assessment of the persistent security breaches, understand the root causes, and propose actionable recommendations for lasting peace, justice, and stability in affected communities” in Plateau State.

With our assignment completed, we hope that our report will not end up on shelves like previous ones. The federal government and Plateau State have, at different times, established committees like this with recommendations that were never implemented. Such previous efforts include the Justice Niki Tobi Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Jos Civil Disturbances, the Justice C. Okpene Federal Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Communal Conflict in Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau and Taraba States, the Rev. Pandang Yamsat High Powered Committee on Peace and Security in Plateau State, the Presidential Peace Initiative Committee on Plateau State headed by the Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris, the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Clashes in Wase Local Government Area Headed by Justice Jummai Sankey, the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the crisis in Langtang North Local Government Area Headed by Justice Jummai Sankey, the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Civil Disturbances in Shendam, Langtang North, Langtang South and Wase Local Government Areas Headed by Justice Felicia K. Dusu and the Justice Bola Ajibola Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the November 2008 Unrest in Jos and Environs.

Having made our observations, based on what we witnessed and the engagements we had with stakeholders in all the 17 local government areas, we have also made recommendations as to what we consider to be the path to peace and progress in the state. The ball is now squarely in the court of the governor who appointed us. Since the report will be processed by the state executive council following which a white paper will be released, I will not go into the substance of our findings or the recommendations. In any case, the assignment availed me of the opportunity to collect all the previous reports, and I may consider writing a book on the crisis at some point. For today, I want to share two field experiences which speak to the security challenge we grapple with in Nigeria.

On 24th June, our committee visited some of the affected communities in Riyom local government to conduct on-the-spot assessments. At Wereng, the council chairman recalled that the community had been attacked about a month before our visit, resulting in the loss of nine lives and the destruction of over 33 houses. At Tan-Jol community, a Berom youth leader explained that the community was once the largest in the entire Jol area but has been reduced from 17 settlements to just five due to repeated attacks by herders. From Tan-Jol, we left for Rim community, where the committee encountered dozens of Police personnel led by the Riyom Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Superintendent They were in a convoy of six operational vehicles. Isado explained to our chairman what turned out to be a failed mission. It was the kernel of my first observation.

The day before, (23 June 2025), Inspector Yakubu Dauda, along with two other officers, had responded to a complaint from locals who reported spotting herders hiding in nearby bushes. During the operation, Inspector Dauda was shot and killed, and his rifle was taken by the assailants. In response, according to Idoko, the State Commissioner of Police deployed additional personnel and instructed him (as the DPO) to recover the stolen weapon. However, while on the mission, they were ambushed by over 50 armed men who rode on motorcycles. The attackers opened fire, overwhelming the police team and forcing the retreat that led them to us.

The concern here Is that criminals of all hues are now so emboldened in our country that law enforcement/security agents are considered easy game for them. This is a dangerous slide we need to arrest. On Monday, Daily Trust reported that no fewer than 53 security operatives were killed across the country in the last two weeks. These, according to the report, “included soldiers, police officers, personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), immigration and customs officers, vigilantes, members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) and state community watch groups.” Just last Friday, a tactical police team was ambushed in the Katsina Al/Ukum axis of Benue State by gunmen. On Monday, the Katsina-Ala local government chairman, Justine Shaku, confirmed that 11 policemen, including an Assistant Superintendent, lost their lives in that attack.

Earlier in the year, there was a trending video of how the DPO for Rano, CSP Baba Ali Muhammad was brutally murdered by street urchins. In the column I wrote after that tragedy, I raised concerns that criminals in our country no longer fear policemen. Contrasting that with what happens in other climes, I referenced the response by Vivek Tulja, a satellite communication expert, to a question of why (in most countries) criminals, including members of the Mafia, avoid killing policemen unless they are cornered. “If you happen to kill a cop, you are best off using the last bullet in your magazine on yourself,” Tulja concluded. That is not the situation in our country. Therefore, as the principal custodian of peace, order and security in a constitutional democracy, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) must work to restore their capacity to deal with the growing threat against their personnel. If those who are meant to protect us cannot protect themselves, we are all in mortal danger.

The second experience occurred on 19th June. We were on the way to Ropp in Barakin Ladi local government, a difficult terrain to navigate, when we encountered two men in a pool of blood, and a hysterical woman. What happened? She was taking her son, one of the two men, to the hospital on a bicycle when they encountered a herder who macheted both men before snatching the bike and running into the bush. Our chairman detailed some of the military people with us to take the victims to the hospital. But here is the issue. That we have too many ungoverned spaces for criminals to operate in has never been in doubt. My concern is that many of our rural communities are too small and isolated in a manner that makes them easy prey for these criminals. I have often wondered whether there could not be a ‘Consolidation’ of some of these scattered communities. I know this is an emotional issue but it is one I Intend to pursue one day.

Before I conclude let me say that it has been a pleasure knowing our chairman, Major General Nicholas Rogers (Rtd), a daredevil ‘Old Soja’ who sometimes forgot that the rest of us were never enlisted in the military. Having commanded ‘Operation Safe Haven’ at some point in his military career, his experience, exposure and the respect he commanded across Plateau State helped us in the assignment. Although he hails from Imo State, Rogers (who also once commanded ‘Operation Lafiya Dole’ against Boko Haram/ISWAP in the Nor’heast) speaks perfect Hausa (and Yoruba too) so that made our job easy during engagements across the state. I have also made friends of other members, including AVM Ibrahim Shafi’I (Rtd), Mr Jonathan Kure, a retired deputy Director General of the State Security Service (SSS), Lawan Usman Safana, a retired SSS Assistant Director General, Mr Yakubu Bawa, a Jos-based legal practitioner, Mrs Esther Lolo, a retired Judge of the Kaduna State High Court, Dr Gad Shamaki, a civil society activist and Hajia Amina Elelu-Ahmed, a former Director of Legal Service at the National Orientation Agency (NOA). And how can I forget our indefatigable Secretary, Mr Timothy Parlong, a legal practitioner and retired permanent secretary in the state civil service—the only Plateau indigene on our committee.

In the last four months, it has been a wonderful experience for me to travel across one of the most beautiful states in Nigeria. But that is exactly where the paradox lies. With rolling hills, attractive rock formations and luscious green vegetation, I continued to wonder why we tend to waste all the resources bestowed upon our country by mother nature. It all reminds me of my trip to Rabah local government of Sokoto in 2018, following the killing of 32 people in Tabanni, Allikiru, Gaidan Kare, Kursa, Dankilawa, Ruwan Tsamiya and Gidan Barebari communities. Accompanied by Mallam Abubakar Shekara, who was at that time Director-General, Media and Public Affairs to then Governor Aminu Tambuwal, the drive from Sokoto to Gandi took about 80 minutes but I had never seen such vast expanse of rainwater bodies in any part of Nigeria as I witnessed on that stretch.

Enthralled, I muttered almost to myself but to the hearing of Shekara, “We have no business with hunger in Nigeria.” Chuckling, Shekara, a soft-spoken but rather interesting man, responded with a story he attributed to a friend. After God had created the world, according to the story, He sent an angel to carry resources to different parts. “In America, God told the angel to drop a lot of resources because people from different parts of the world would congregate there. In Asia, God also directed the angel to drop a lot of resources becausee the inhabitants would be very industrious. The same pattern continued until the angel got to Africa and he had not even expended half the resources he carried. But upon entering the continent, the angel stumbled and spilled all the resources…”

Shekara paused, perhaps to put me in suspense, and then he laughed. “As the angel tried to pack the spilled resources, God told him, ‘Don’t bother. Just watch: The people will not use them.’”

May God deliver us from that ‘curse’!

Adieu, Egbon Mouftah Baba-Ahmed

In the illustrious Baba-Ahmed family of Zaria, Kaduna State, Mouftah’s name may not ring a bell among the Gen-Z generation of Nigerians. Many of them would know the Baze University proprietor and Labour Party presidential running mate in the 2023 general election, Senator Datti Baba-Ahmed and retired federal permanent secretary, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed. Yet, the ‘middle brother’, our beloved ‘egbon Mouftah’ (now of blessed memory), was as influential as he was prominent—even though he chose to operate from the background. Indeed, there are few Nigerians with the incredible power of networking exhibited by the late Mallam Mouftah Baba-Ahmed who belonged to the class of people described as ‘Connectors’ by Malcolm Gladwell in his book, ‘The Tipping Point’. This much was attested to by Waziri Adio’s fitting tribute last Sunday.

Highly cerebral and very knowledgeable about so many issues, egbon Mouftah obtained his first degree from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and a Master’s from the University of Lagos before also attending Harvard Institute of International Development and London Business School. He started his career in the public sector in Lagos while still in his twenties. He was Secretary, Committee on Development Finance and International Trade, affiliated to Nigerian Industrial Development Bank (now Bank of Industry), Special Assistant to Dr. Hamza Zayyad, the legendary Chairman of the Technical Committee on Privatisation and Communication (TCPC), precursor to the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE). He was also the Executive Director, Finance, Administration and Corporate Services of the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) long before the reform of the power sector. By his mid thirties, he had moved to the private sector, where he became Chairman of NAL Bank PLC (which later merged with others to become Sterling Bank PLC), and Executive Vice Chairman of African Investment Corporation etc.

Meanwhile, egbon Mouftah was a simple man who had what I would describe as a ‘Methuselah disposition’. He enjoyed being seen as an ‘elder’ despite the fact that he was born in February 1962! Like Waziri, I am also one of his numerous ‘aburos’, but on the Nigeria Collective (NC)—the chat group comprising many of the high and mighty in Nigeria which he created—he always posted my column in a certain way that has earned me a non-existent ‘title’ from members. It started about a decade ago when he asked whether it was true that I am a deacon in the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) and I answered in the affirmative. The next week, he posted my column on NC as coming from the ‘Executive Deacon’. And from that time, until he died last week, that was the way he headlined my column every time.

From my interactions with the late egbon Mouftah, he took his faith very seriously so he could have had no greater wish than to die and be buried in Saudi Arabia. But as Datti told Waziri and I when we visited the family on Monday, the events of his last few weeks and how he moved from a London hospital to Saudi Arabia were providential and miraculous in so many ways. They were certainly not planned. While the ideal of the NC he created is now clearly on the wane, a reflection of Nigeria in so many ways, members have profited from the bonds and relationships created as a result of the interactions on the platform. And for that, many owe the late egbon Mouftah a world of gratitude. May God comfort the family he left behind.

• You can follow me on my X (formerly Twitter) handle, @Olusegunverdict and on www.olusegunadeniyi.com