Why Middle Belters Reject Association with Fulani Groups
By Mike Odeh James
The controversy trailing Brig. Gen. G. Shipi (rtd), Special Adviser to Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang, has reopened a bitter debate: are Fulani people “indigenes” of Plateau State? Shipi has since denied ever making such a claim, saying he was misquoted in Jos. But the public outrage at the alleged statement points to something deeper — a long-standing refusal by Middle Belt communities to associate themselves with Fulani groups, especially those linked to terrorism.
For residents of Plateau, Benue, Southern Kaduna, Taraba, and Nasarawa, the resistance is not about ethnicity alone. It is rooted in lived experience of violence, displacement, and state neglect.
- A Legacy of Bloodshed
Across the Middle Belt, Fulani militant groups have left a trail of death. Villages have been torched, families massacred, and entire communities forced to flee ancestral homes. For many survivors, the Fulani name is synonymous with armed raids that come at night and end with fresh graves at dawn. - Land Dispossession and Displacement
Attacks rarely end with killings alone. Survivors often return to find their farms occupied and their lands claimed by herders. This pattern of violence followed by occupation has convinced many that the crisis is not random banditry, but a calculated campaign of displacement. - A Clash of Identities
The Middle Belt prides itself on a rich tapestry of Christian ethnic groups, with farming as the backbone of society. The Fulani, predominantly Muslim and pastoralist, are seen as outsiders with conflicting values and ways of life. The repeated violence has hardened cultural and religious boundaries that might otherwise have softened with time. - Silence from Fulani Organizations
Groups such as Miyetti Allah have faced heavy criticism for failing to unequivocally condemn the massacres. Instead, their statements often appear to rationalize attacks as “reprisals.” For indigenous communities, such rhetoric is proof that Fulani associations have little sympathy for victims. - Impunity and Federal Protection
Perhaps most galling for Middle Belters is the perception that Fulani aggressors operate with federal backing. Security forces are slow to respond to attacks, perpetrators are rarely prosecuted, and officials in Abuja often downplay the scale of the killings. To identify with Fulani groups under these conditions is, for many locals, to side with injustice.
The uproar over Shipi’s alleged statement is therefore less about semantics and more about survival. For communities that have lost thousands of lives to Fulani militant violence, being told to accept their killers as “indigenes” is a wound reopened.
Until accountability is enforced, and Fulani organizations distance themselves clearly from terrorism, the divide will remain — sharp, bitter, and unhealed.
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