BYM Rejects Report Linking Berom Person to NIPSS Attack, Demands Proof from Zagazola Makama

Our Correspondent

The Berom Youth Moulders-Association, BYM, has dismissed as “false and unsubstantiated” a report by Zagazola Makama claiming that the person killed during the recent attack near the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS, was a “Berom militia member.”

In a press statement signed by BYM National Publicity Secretary, Rwang Tengwong, the group said the Berom nation does not operate any militia and challenged the publisher to release the deceased’s name, family and community for public verification.

“If indeed the Berom people had a militia as falsely alleged, armed Fulani terrorists would not have continued to invade our communities, kill our people, destroy our farms and displace indigenous populations across several communities in Plateau State,” BYM said.

The association questioned the basis for assigning ethnicity to the deceased. “Was his ethnicity inscribed on his forehead? Was there any forensic investigation, DNA analysis or family identification process carried out before such a sensitive conclusion was reached?” the statement asked.

BYM said the leadership of Operation Enduring Peace contacted Berom community leaders in Kuru after the incident, and the leaders “categorically confirmed that the corpse was not that of any known member of the Berom community in Kuru.”

It added that Kuru is a cosmopolitan community with several ethnic groups, including Fulani populations, and that displacement has created new settlements around the Rafin Bauna axis behind NIPSS.

“To therefore single out one ethnic group without evidence raises serious questions about motive and intent,” the group said.

The association called on the Defence Headquarters to invite Zagazola Makama to produce evidence supporting his claim, saying such information, “if genuine, could provide valuable intelligence” for security agencies tracking attacks in the Kuru-Vom axis.

BYM warned that if the information came from military sources, it would mean an individual killed at a crime scene was given an ethnic identity “without verification, forensic examination or DNA confirmation,” creating “the disturbing impression that there may be an ulterior agenda aimed at criminalizing the Berom people.”

The group reaffirmed the Berom people’s cooperation with security agencies and urged journalists, commentators and security institutions to verify facts before publication, “particularly in matters capable of escalating ethnic tensions.”

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