Are Plateau elders prepared to implement Tinubu’s peace mandate?

Yemi Kosoko examines how President Bola Tinubu has put the responsibility for ending Plateau State’s persistent violence on its elders, urging them to lead rather than offer excuses.

For almost thirty years Plateau State has been known both for its scenic beauty and its diversity, and for the recurring waves of bloodshed that have repeatedly devastated communities. Residents have experienced the warmth of hospitality alongside the shock of sudden attacks, rebuilding homes countless times. The central question that has persisted is why the violence keeps resurfacing.

In late April 2026 President Tinubu called together Plateau elders, political figures, traditional rulers and religious leaders at the State House in Abuja. His address was direct and unusually blunt: the era of excuses is over, and Plateau must break the cycle of violence to achieve lasting peace.

The gathering came after the March 29 2026 assault in Angwan Rukuba, one of several recent incidents that have shaken the state. The President’s tone indicated that he was not merely reacting to that single tragedy but confronting a crisis that has endured for nearly three decades, surviving multiple administrations, commissions of inquiry and fluctuating political will.

Recent events have intensified the urgency. At least 11 people were killed in a renewed attack on the Ngbra Zongo community in Kwall District of Bassa Local Government Area. Gunmen entered the settlement around midnight, moving house‑to‑house, firing sporadically and using machetes and other weapons. Several others were injured, and many families fled into nearby bushes. Among the dead were three pregnant women, a community leader and children as young as three. Survivors, including a pregnant woman, are receiving treatment for gunshot wounds and machete injuries.

Just a week earlier, violence erupted in Barkin Ladi LGA when gunmen opened fire on mourners during a mass burial in Nding Sesut community. The gathering was meant to inter six victims—five members of the same family and another resident—killed in a late‑night raid the previous day. In neighboring Riyom LGA, an attempted attack on Rim community was thwarted by local vigilantes and members of Operation Rainbow. These incidents have heightened residents’ fear and uncertainty about returning to their homes or farms.

These fresh tragedies reinforce the need for the President’s intervention and for addressing the deeper drivers of Plateau’s instability.

Plateau’s recurring violence did not start in 2026. Its origins trace back to the 1994 Jos riots, the 2001 citywide clashes, the 2008 local‑government election crisis, and the subsequent waves of rural attacks. Each outbreak was followed by the establishment of a commission of inquiry.

Over the years, commissions have included the Fiberesima Commission (1994), the Niki Tobi and Galadima Commissions (2001), the Ajibola Commission (2009), and several federal panels and reconciliation committees between 2009 and 2010. These bodies interviewed witnesses, documented grievances, identified perpetrators and issued detailed recommendations. Despite thorough reports, implementation was minimal, creating a recurring pattern: crisis, commission, White Paper, no action, then a new crisis.

President Tinubu now wants Plateau’s elders to break that pattern.

The Abuja meeting assembled one of the broadest delegations of Plateau leaders in recent memory. Attendees included former military governor Rear Admiral Samuel Atukum (Rtd), former governors Fidelis Tapgun, Joshua Dariye, Jonah Jang and Simon Lalong, former minister Dame Pauline Tallen, incumbent governor Caleb Mutfwang, APC national chairman Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, as well as traditional rulers, religious leaders and legislators.

According to participants, the President’s message was both stern and urgent.

He approved N2 billion in federal assistance for victims of the recent attacks, a move intended to meet immediate humanitarian needs and demonstrate federal commitment.

He urged Plateau’s leaders to identify those responsible for the killings, warning that political convenience must not obstruct justice. He reminded them that if individuals are being recruited for conflict, leaders must scrutinize their own roles, emphasizing that violence requires enablers, financiers and influencers—some of whom may be closer to home than acknowledged. He directed security agencies to pursue the planners and financiers of attacks, not merely the foot soldiers.

Many observers view this as the strongest federal intervention in Plateau’s crisis in years. The President’s remarks echo the findings of every major commission of inquiry on the state. Across the 1994, 2001 and 2008 inquiries, the same root causes were identified: weak security coordination, politicised local governance, indigene‑settler tensions, youth militia mobilisation, land disputes, a culture of impunity and deepening mistrust between communities. The commissions also proposed solutions that remain relevant today.

Yet, year after year, successive administrations have left those recommendations unimplemented.

Therefore, Tinubu’s intervention is not merely a call to act; it is a call to complete the unfinished work of past commissions.

Experts note that the President’s mandate aligns with long‑standing recommendations that Plateau has yet to apply. Governance reform will require transparent local‑government elections, depoliticised appointments to sensitive posts and strengthened conflict‑management capacity at the local level.

It also calls for addressing identity and structural issues by standardising indigene certificate processes, guaranteeing basic rights for long‑term residents and clarifying land and district boundaries. In addition, social cohesion and peacebuilding must be prioritised through institutionalised interfaith and interethnic councils, the integration of peace education into schools, expanded youth programmes across diverse communities and a deliberate avoidance of inflammatory rhetoric. These ideas are not new; they simply represent the unfinished agenda of earlier commissions.

By placing responsibility squarely on Plateau’s elders and leaders, the President