Stakeholders Brainstorm As News Central Holds Town Hall Over Middle Belt Crises

A cross-section of victims, security officials, academics, civil society actors and community leaders, on Friday, gathered at a Town Hall organised by News Central TV to examine the persistent violence ravaging Nigeria’s Middle Belt region.

The Town Hall, held in Jos, Plateau State, focused on one central question: why violence continues to persist across communities in the Middle Belt despite years of interventions and security operations.

The event provided a platform for victims and survivors to share firsthand accounts of loss, displacement and trauma, with many calling for urgent action from government and security agencies.

One of the participants, Garba Maikyau, lamented the continued captivity of some residents, saying, “Our people have been in captivity for over a month.”

Bulus Makadas, a survivor, drew attention to the long-term emotional and social impact of the attacks on women, revealing that some women who returned from violent incidents came back pregnant and were later abandoned by their families.

In an emotional testimony, David Mutem recounted how he lost more than 20 relatives, including his wife, during attacks on his community.

“I was unable to bury my wife because of the threats around us. I am over 100 years old, I have nowhere to go,” he said.

Beyond the personal accounts, discussions at the Town Hall also focused on the structural and political dimensions of the crisis.

A lecturer at Plateau State Polytechnic, Luka Panpe, described the insecurity in the region as highly politicised, arguing that any government unable to protect lives and property had failed in one of its core responsibilities.

Also speaking, survivor advocate Doris Magaji expressed concern over what she described as institutional denial surrounding the scale and nature of the crisis.

Professor Funmi Para-Mallam provided historical context to the conflict, describing the Plateau crisis as a longstanding issue rooted in complex historical realities and worsened by years of poor governance.

According to her, the inability to address governance failures over time has contributed significantly to the persistence of violence in affected communities.

Representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and socio-cultural groups also highlighted the humanitarian challenges confronting displaced persons and vulnerable communities, especially difficulties in accessing and delivering aid.

Security concerns and operational realities were also discussed during the session, with Brigadier General Muhammed Sule offering insight into the challenges security agencies face while responding to attacks and maintaining stability in the region.

The Town Hall formed part of News Central’s broader developmental journalism initiative aimed at amplifying voices from conflict-affected communities and encouraging dialogue around governance, security and accountability.

Participants at the gathering stressed that understanding the root causes of the violence remained critical to finding lasting solutions to the Middle Belt crisis.