As Fulani Ethnic Militia Kill Five in Berom Villages
By Mike Odeh James
(JOS) Fulani organisations in Plateau State are preparing to accuse the Plateau State Government and the security forces deployed in the state of genocide before the International Criminal Court (ICC), two sources told TruthNigeria.
Both sources said the plan is a response to a months-long crackdown that has put Fulani suspects, and at least one Fulani clan leader, in custody.
Credit Solomon Dalyop.
“The leadership of the Fulani cattle breeders’ association on the Plateau is finalising plans to take the Plateau State government and the military outfits in the state to the International Criminal Court,” Solomon Dalyop, National President of the Berom Youth Moulders-Association (BYM), told TruthNigeria exclusively.
Dalyop said intelligence gathered by his organisation suggests the Fulani associations are angered by the arrest of their leaders and by the wider government crackdown. He said they have settled on a strategy of claiming that Fulani are being killed “on a genocidal level” on the Plateau.
Adakole Adam of Adakson Security Consultancy in Takum, Taraba State, said he had received the same information.
“I have that intelligence report too,” Adam said. “They are not happy with the crackdown on terrorists on the Plateau, and therefore Miyetti Allah bodies are mobilising to go to the criminal court.”
TruthNigeria could not independently confirm the plan. As of November 10, none of the main Fulani bodies had publicly announced a filing: the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), the Gan Allah Fulani Development Association of Nigeria (GAFDAN) and Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore. MACBAN could not be reached for comment.
Five Killed in Two Attacks
On Sunday, November 8, 2026, armed Fulani attackers hit two predominantly Christian Berom-tribe communities, according to BYM. They killed five people, including a 15-year-old boy and a soldier, and wounded two others.
The first attack came at about 5 p.m. in Gwol-Hoss village, Riyom County, where Danladi Badung, 65, was killed.
About two hours later, at about 7 p.m., the attackers struck Bel community in Sho District, Barkin Ladi County, and killed four people.
BYM National Publicity Secretary Rwang Tengwong said the killing of a minor and a soldier showed how grave the security situation has become.
Operation Enduring Peace, the Nigerian Army task force in Plateau, could not be reached for comment on the soldier’s death.
Curfew That Did Not Hold
The Bel attack took place during the hours of a dusk-to-dawn curfew. The Plateau State Government imposed the curfew on Barkin Ladi, Bokkos and Mangu counties on September 21, after more than 20 people were killed in two days, and banned motorcycles at the same time. Movement is barred from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Riyom County is not covered by the curfew. In any case, the Gwol-Hoss killing happened in daylight.
Between October 27 and November 8, at least five attacks across four Plateau counties [Local Government areas] killed more than 20 people, including two soldiers and a mobile police officer.
BYM called on the Plateau State Government, the police, the Department of State Services (DSS) and the military to investigate both attacks, arrest and prosecute those responsible, review security arrangements, support bereaved families and the wounded, and set up early-warning and rapid-response systems in vulnerable Berom communities.
Crackdown and Backlash
Dalyop said the security forces deserve acknowledgement, though not yet praise.
“I will not commend the military yet, but I am acknowledging that they are doing great work right now,” he said. “However, they need to do more.”
Both sources said the alleged ICC plan was triggered by a string of arrests and operations since August, including:
- September 12: DSS operatives reportedly seized Mahmoud Adam, the ardo (Fulani clan head) of Mahanga, formerly Rankum, in Riyom County, from his compound. Nigerian authorities have not confirmed the arrest or announced charges.
- September: Operation Enduring Peace said it had arrested 155 suspects across Bauchi, Kaduna and Plateau states.
- October 16: DSS operatives backed by the army foiled a planned attack on Ganchung village in Rim, Riyom County, after drones spotted gunmen moving among cattle herders.
- November 9: The army announced the arrest of a suspected gunrunner, Adamu Adamu, alias “Jauro,” with an AK-47 rifle at Gindiri market in Mangu County.
So far, Fulani groups have pushed back only through domestic channels. On October 5, a lawyer acting for the Plateau chapters of MACBAN, GAFDAN and the Fulbe Youth Development Association petitioned federal authorities. The petition accused the DSS of killings, abductions, and the poisoning and shooting of cattle.
A coalition of indigenous Plateau youth groups, with Dalyop as a spokesman, called the petition a campaign to discredit the DSS, the Mobile Police and the state’s Operation Rainbow outfit.
Adam frames the conflict as a struggle over land. He said violence has been “practically foisted” on Plateau’s indigenous peoples by Fulani who claim the Plateau as their home. According to Adam, they say they were born there and refuse to give up the land they now occupy.
“The Fulani are therefore not happy about it,” he said.
MACBAN’s Plateau chairman, Ibrahim Yusuf Babayo, sees it differently. He has previously told the Daily Trust that attacks on his members are aimed at driving Fulani out of the state, and he insists that Fulani are indigenous like other ethnic groups.
Nigerian Lawfare
Nigeria joined the Rome Statute in 2001, so the ICC has jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed on Nigerian territory. The court tries individuals only.
It cannot put “the Plateau State government” or “the military outfits” on trial as institutions, though it can pursue named officials or commanders, according to legal sources contacted by TruthNigeria. Any person or group may send information to the ICC Prosecutor, but these “communications” do not open a case. An investigation needs either a decision by the Prosecutor with judicial authorisation, or a referral from a State Party or the UN Security Council.
Mike Odeh James is a conflict reporter for TruthNigeria.
