Solomon Dalung, a former minister of youth and sports development has condemned the recent wave of killings in Plateau State, describing the attacks as barbaric and a dangerous return to ethnic and religious profiling.
In a statement he personally sent to BusinessDay via WhatsApp on Thursday in Jos, Dalung lamented the murder of four young traders in Dorowa Babuje, Barakin Ladi Local Government Area, on February 23, 2026, warning that the state risks sliding back into a dark era of highway killings and reprisals.
“I had thought we had long gone past the dark era of profiling citizens on highways and slaughtering innocent travellers simply because they share an ethnic or religious identity with perceived enemies. Sadly, that nightmare resurfaced on Monday, 23rd February 2026, in Dorowa Babuje,” he said.
“Let it be clearly stated: it is barbaric, criminal, and utterly unacceptable to block highways and murder innocent citizens who know nothing about the conflicts fueling these attacks. Collective punishment is not justice; it is savagery. Two wrongs can never make a right,” Dalung added.
He noted that the traders were on their way to Pankshin Monday Market when they were singled out and killed, barely a day after a hotel attack in the same community left nine people dead, while reports also indicated that three missing Fulani herdsmen were later found killed.
According to him, the pattern of violence suggests a vicious cycle of reprisals that continues to deepen divisions and escalate tensions across Plateau State.
The former minister extended condolences to the families of the victims and urged security agencies to fulfill their constitutional responsibility by arresting and prosecuting those behind the killings, stressing that Plateau has suffered enough and must now give peace a genuine chance.
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