A TEXT OF AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BY THE PRESIDENT OF BEROM YOUTHS MOULDER-ASSOCIATION, HOLDING AT STATE SECRETARIAT OF NIHERIAN UNION OF JOURNALIST, JOS, 24TH JULY, 2025.

COMPROMISE AND COMPLACENCY IN YET ANOTHER MASSACRE IN BINDI/JEBBU VILLAGE OF RIYOM LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, PLATEAU STATE.

1. BACKGROUND:

Massacres and killings in Plateau State such as the one at Bindi/Jebbu of Riyom Local Government Area in the early hours of 14th July, 2025, where 27 people lost their lives, property worth Millions of Naira destroyed and livestock carted away is no longer news. This ugly and orchestrated campaign is now a subject for “politically correct “commentary, rationalization and outright mystification deliberately constructed to suit the idiosyncrasies and the ethnic egoism of the sponsors and perpetrators of these heinous crimes who, in our considered view, is a major appetite to continue their campaign of territorial expansion. No wonder, it is incontrovertible that the reality on ground for victims is that their Communities, Villages and Hamlets have continued to suffer killings, displacements and disruption their lives under the rain of terror that is usually justified on the platter of clashes over alleged animal theft, claims of missing persons and some other sundry issues.

The rain of terror on the Plateau and elsewhere all around the Middle-Belt has produced a curious pattern that is now well established and that is:- attack, displace and occupy thereby making the areas unhabitable for the original inhabitants.

Secondly, all military operations have remained reactive in nature with no single incident of being ahead of the attackers. Though most of these attacks appear as isolated incidences, they, however, speak to a bigger picture with a systematic strategy of actualization. Therefore, the massacre in Bindi/Jebbu should therefore be appropriately appraised within the outlined context.

2. FACTS
   The following facts are now evident from the Bindi/Jebbu massacre of 14th July, 2025:-
3. Undeniable receipt and acknowledgement of early warning fron stakeholders to the Sector 6 Commander of Operation Safe Haven-OPSH, Lnt Col Thomas Paave
4. 27 people lost their lives, many injured property worth Millions of Naira destroyed, livestock carted carted away and over 2447 people displaced with others
5. Bindi/Jebbu is serviced by at least 2 nearby Military post, which are less than 3 kilometres away from both ends.
6. Bindi/Jebbu is situated along a trunk “A” Federal road. Therefore, complaints over the terrain or accessibility to the village by operatives of Operation Safe Haven is inexcusable.
7. The 27 killed and the related destruction of property occured within the same vicinity where the Reinforcement Team stationed itself before and during the attack.
8. The former Youth leader, Mr. ……. of the village was shot dead from the back by a military operative after the attackers had left the scene. This becks for answers.
9. A claim that the Federal High-Way was blocked by the attackers such that another reinforcement team could not pass according to Lnt Col Thomas Paave, the Sector 6 Commander of Operation Safe Haven-OPSH is not only ridiculous, but also unbelievable
10. The Sector 6 Commander of Operation Safe Haven-OPSH claim that his men were overwhelmed to the extent that non of the attackers were apprehended, wounded or neutralized is yet another puzzle that need to be unraveled.
11. OUR DEMAND

The Berom Youths Moulder-Association demands as follows:-

1. The constitution of an independent panel of Investigation to clearly identify the individuals and collective roles as well as find out and unravel the level of compromise and complacency of the Sector 6 Commander, Lnt Col Thomas Paave as and the Reinforcement Team that was deployed.
2. Perpetrators and their sponsors should equally be identified and openly prosecuted.
3. There should be Justice and adequate compensation for victims and their families.
4. The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction should extend its humanitarian intervention scheme to the families of the deceased, the injured , the Internally Displaced Persons-IDPs and other villagers that suffered grievous destruction of their crops and farmlands.
5. Immediate unconditional release of our youths, who are under continued unlawful detention after indiscriminate arrest made in Sagas/Gyembus, Jol, Gwon and other places without arrangement as this constitutes a gross violation of their fundamental human and other constitutional rights enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as ammended) and other International Instruments that guarantee rights of human persons irrespective of ethno-religious and geographical definitions.
6. CONCLUSION

The Berom Youths Moulder-Association, however, wishes to seize this opportunity to register its appreciation to both Mr President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR courtesy Hon. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda as well as the Executive Governor of Plateau State, Barr. Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang for their interest and determination to get to the root of these unwholesome and vicious attacks intermittently unleashed on innocent and law abiding citizens by Fulani militants and their terrorist networks all over the place.

Conclusion
On the whole, the Berom Youths Moulder-Association is calling on its compatriots to remain ever vigilant and willing to offer the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our God-giving lands and heritage. It should now be clear to all that the Berom Nation and, indeed, Plateau State, shall NEVER surrender to terror, and their lands NEITHER forfeited to invaders. In God we trust.

LONG LIVE NEROM LAND
LONG LIVE PLATEAU STATE
LONG LIVE THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA

Sign.

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Barr. Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri,
President of Berom Youths Moulder-Association (BYM)

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Bature Iliya Adazaram,
Secretary General of Berom Youths Moulder-Association (BYM)