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Peace without justice is fragile: Berom Leaders Accuse Fulani Militants of Genocide, Demand Urgent Intervention
The Berom in Diaspora Coalition (BDC) has raised a fresh alarm over what it described as “the prolonged genocide” against the indigenous people of Berom land and other Plateau communities.
The coalition made the call during a world press conference held on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, at the Bishop’s Court Conference Hall, Jos, to draw national and international attention to what it termed “the continuous and systematic killings, displacement, and land grabbing of Berom people by Fulani militants.”
Delivering the statement, Mr. Barry Barnabas Dazih, who represented the BDC, lamented the long years of unprovoked attacks on Berom communities, stressing that “peace without justice is fragile.” He said the Berom people have remained peaceful despite decades of targeted violence.
“We are not gathered here to promote hate or division,” he said. “We are gathered to demand justice, accountability, and protection. For too long, our people have been killed, our lands seized, and our cries ignored.”
According to the BDC, over 10,000 Berom people have been killed since 2001, while about 151 communities have been displaced across the state. The statement accused successive Nigerian governments of ignoring the plight of indigenous Plateau communities despite repeated attacks and appeals for help.
The coalition also highlighted a disturbing new threat to the lives of three activists—Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo, journalist Masara Kim, and human rights lawyer Barr. Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri—allegedly targeted by militants for their outspoken advocacy. The BDC called on security agencies to provide immediate protection for the individuals and to act swiftly to prevent further bloodshed.
Citing several communities that have been “forcibly occupied,” including parts of Riyom, Barkin Ladi, Jos South, and Bokkos LGAs, the group urged both the Nigerian government and international organizations such as the United Nations, African Union, and ECOWAS to intervene.
“The Fulani militants have continued their campaign of violence even after Nigeria’s designation as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ by the United States,” the statement read. “We therefore demand that these groups be officially declared terrorists and that military operations be launched to reclaim occupied lands and restore displaced communities.”
The coalition outlined a nine-point demand, including the release of ₦10 billion earlier announced for victims of violent attacks, the prosecution of perpetrators, and the implementation of community-based security measures to prevent future atrocities.
BYM President, Barr. Solomon Dalyop, reaffirmed solidarity with the BDC, insisting that what is happening in Plateau is “not a herders-farmers clash but a calculated plan to wipe out indigenous nationalities.” He condemned the alleged complicity and silence of some state actors.
“They want to destroy this country because it is not their own,” Dalyop said. “Our people are being slaughtered, our lands renamed, and our heritage erased while authorities look away.”
BECO President, Da Gyang Dudu, added that all Berom organizations fully endorsed the statement issued by the diaspora coalition, emphasizing that the document “reflects the collective pain and position of the Berom nation.”
Also speaking, the Information Officer of the Berom Elders Council, Da Yakubu Taddy, urged Nigerians to rise above religious and ethnic sentiments when addressing insecurity, warning that silence in the face of injustice only emboldens perpetrators. He criticized the federal government for failing to act decisively despite admitting to knowing the locations of the attackers.
“Killings are happening — it’s time we admit that instead of arguing whether the victims are Christians or Muslims,” Taddy said. “Every Nigerian has a right to speak up when wrong is being done. People are living on land that does not belong to them, and authorities tell us to go to court. For goodness’ sake, is that fairness? Is that justice? The government must wake up because parts of this country are now under the control of bandits who tax citizens before they farm. If those in power know where these criminals are, then why are they still free?”
Also speaking, the Berom Elders Council Secretary, Dara Francis, questioned the sincerity of Nigeria’s leadership in tackling terrorism, saying:
“It’s not that the Nigerian military lacks the capacity; they lack the will. In one week, this problem can be solved. But each day we see the killings intensify, and nobody is held accountable.”
Speakers further decried the growing number of displaced children, widows, and orphans affected by years of conflict, warning that their neglect could lead to future insecurity.
“These children have watched their parents killed and their homes destroyed. If not properly rehabilitated, they will grow up with pain and vengeance in their hearts,” one elder cautioned.
The coalition concluded by urging all Nigerians—regardless of tribe or religion—to speak against injustice.
“A government that pampers killers and punishes victims is an accomplice,” Dazih said in closing. “When truth becomes tribal and justice selective, what remains is not a country but a graveyard with a flag. We demand justice now—for the dead, the displaced, and the generations yet unborn.”
The conference ended with renewed calls for unity among Plateau and Middle Belt ethnic nationalities and for global attention to what the group described as “a silent genocide unfolding in Nigeria’s heartland.”
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EuroMatch NPFL: Your Television Cannot Give You This — What Fans Staying Away From The stadium Are Already Missing
There is football you watch, and there is football you experience.
Only three matchweeks into the 2026/27 EuroMatch Nigeria Premier Football League, supporters who have decided to follow the competition exclusively through score updates, social media clips and television are already missing perhaps the most entertaining part of the new season — being there when the story happens.
A screen can show you Fabian Nworie scoring twice from centre-back for Kano Pillars.
It can replay Sadiq Rilwan’s goals for flying Doma United.
It can tell you Mohammed Rabiu Zulkifilu has already scored the season’s first hat-trick.
But a screen cannot completely reproduce the roar that follows a goal, the tension before a penalty, the noise behind an opposition goalkeeper, the songs from the terraces or that beautiful moment when thousands of strangers suddenly jump together because one ball has crossed one line.
That is what the stadium gives you.
And this EuroMatch NPFL season is already providing plenty of reasons to return.
The league is already creating characters
Two matchweeks were enough for unfamiliar names to begin turning into talking points.
Kano Pillars’ Fabian Nworie, a defender, suddenly became one of Matchday Two’s biggest attractions by scoring twice as Pillars raced into a 3-0 lead before surviving Niger Tornadoes’ comeback to win 3-2.
Imagine being inside the Sani Abacha Stadium for that.
One goal.
Another.
Then Tornadoes score.
Then they score again.
Suddenly a comfortable afternoon becomes nervous. Every clearance matters. Every whistle matters. Every second feels longer.
That emotional journey is why people go to football matches.
Elsewhere, Doma United have become the surprise early story. They returned to the top flight and immediately started winning, including a dramatic 1-0 victory over Inter Lagos at Onikan in which Ibrahim Pius produced an important save before Sadiq Rilwan headed the 71st-minute winner.
And now Matchday Three has already brought another Doma statement with their victory over Enyimba.
The supporters who were inside the ground did not merely hear that Doma had beaten one of Nigerian football’s giants.
They watched the moment become history in front of them.
You could be watching tomorrow’s Super Eagle today
Perhaps this is the biggest thing Nigerian supporters sometimes forget about their domestic league.
Before a player becomes the name everybody discusses, somebody saw him first.
Before the overseas move, before the national-team invitation, before the viral compilation and before everybody suddenly claims to have always known how good he was, there are afternoons when that footballer is simply wearing an NPFL shirt and trying to make people remember his name.
That opportunity is sitting in front of supporters again this season.
Zulkifilu has already delivered a hat-trick. Nworie has scored twice from defence. Rilwan has emerged as an early goalscoring attraction. Goalkeepers such as Ibrahim Pius and Akuchie Obinna are building their own stories.
Some will go further than others. That is football.
But imagine the satisfaction years from now of saying:
“I watched him before everybody knew him.”
That is something highlights cannot give you retrospectively.
The stadium gives football its sound
Football without supporters is still a sport.
Football with supporters becomes theatre.
The drums. The arguments. The songs. The celebrations. The man behind you who somehow believes he should be the coach. The supporter predicting a goal seconds before it happens. Children seeing professional footballers metres away instead of through a phone.
Even the collective groan when a striker misses an open chance is part of the experience.
This is not an argument against broadcasting. In fact, wider broadcasting is essential to growing the EuroMatch NPFL. The league has expanded access through its digital coverage, and Matchday Three itself has selected fixtures scheduled across the NPFL/MBI YouTube platforms, Afro Soccer and FRCN.
Broadcasting takes the league to the world.
But supporters inside stadiums give the league its soul.
The two should grow together.
This Sunday, Lagos has an especially good reason to leave the sofa
For supporters in Lagos, Matchday Three offers something that cannot be repeated.
Inter Lagos versus Sporting Lagos.
The first one.
The official NPFL describes Sunday’s encounter at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan as the first-ever top-flight meeting between the clubs.
Years from now, if this develops into one of Nigerian football’s great city rivalries, people will talk about the first EuroMatch NPFL Lagos derby.
Somebody will score its first goal.
Somebody could become its first match-winner.
There will be a first celebration, a first heartbreak and a first set of bragging rights.
And there is only one opportunity to say:
“I was there for the first one.”
The match kicks off at 4pm on Sunday, September 13, at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena.
Supporting the league means more than posting about it
Nigerian football belongs to Nigerians.
If supporters want better clubs, bigger player profiles, stronger commercial interest, more valuable sponsorships and a domestic competition capable of commanding greater international attention, then the relationship between clubs and their communities matters.
That is also why the arrival of EuroMatch as title sponsor should be accompanied by a renewed effort to make matchday an attractive entertainment product.
Sponsors need visibility.
Players need audiences.
Clubs need communities.
And supporters need a league that feels like it belongs to them.
Going to the stadium connects all four.
A packed stand makes a player’s great moment look bigger. It makes television pictures more attractive. It gives sponsors greater exposure. It creates atmosphere around clubs. Most importantly, it turns another Sunday fixture into an event people don’t want to miss.
Don’t wait until everybody is talking about them
That might ultimately be the message of this young EuroMatch NPFL season.
Don’t wait until a player earns a national-team call-up before discovering him.
Don’t wait until a Nigerian club makes a continental run before deciding to support it.
Don’t wait for a derby to become famous before attending it.
Don’t wait until everybody is talking about the league before deciding it deserves your attention.
Go and discover the story yourself.
Matchday Three continues Sunday with Abia Warriors against Ikorodu City, Barau FC against Ranchers Bees, Bendel Insurance against Kun Khalifat, Kwara United against Katsina United, Niger Tornadoes against Plateau United and Inter Lagos against Sporting Lagos.
Different cities. Different clubs. Different characters.
But the same invitation.
Come and see your league.
Come with your friends. Bring your children where appropriate. Wear your club colours. Learn the players’ names. Pick a favourite. Sing. Celebrate. Complain about the referee. Debate the coach’s substitution all the way home.
Because somewhere in an EuroMatch NPFL stadium this season, a player you barely know today could be producing the performance everybody will be discussing tomorrow.
And when that moment arrives, there are two ways to experience it.
You can watch the clip later.
**Or you can say: “I was there.”**
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