Tinubu’s aide deployed in Plateau, meets Miyetti Allah leaders, cleric threatening Nigeria with ICC

Abiodun Essiet, the senior special assistant to the president on community engagement, has met with Ezekiel Dachomo, the Plateau-based cleric, as part of peacebuilding efforts in the state.

In a statement on Sunday, Bayo Onanuga, presidential spokesperson, said Essiet was deployed by the president as a peace emissary to the state.

Essiet visited Dachomo, regional chairman of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) in Barkin Ladi, as well as Miyetti Allah representatives, traditional and community leaders during the two-day engagement.

Discussions between Dachomo and Essiet were said to have “centred on faith-based leadership and its role in promoting peace, unity, and social development”.

The presidential spokesperson said Essiet and Dachomo also addressed some widows and “conveyed President Tinubu’s message of fostering ethnic reconciliation in the state”.

The presidential aide also met with Fulani leaders in Barkin Ladi to “foster dialogue and mutual understanding between pastoral and farming communities”.

“Later in the day, she conducted a workshop on establishing a community peace structure for the 17 Local Government Areas in Jos,” the statement reads.

“Dr Essiet also held a closed-door meeting with the Irigwe community, the Miyetti Allah group, and representatives from the Youth Council of Bassa LGA.

“They focused on sustaining peace and discussed how the 17-member peace committee strengthens dialogue, reconciliation, and coexistence between the two communities.

“Dr Essiet reiterated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s unwavering commitment to peace and inclusive governance, noting that the Community-Based Peace Structure serves as a key instrument for grassroots unity, dialogue, and long-term stability in the North Central region. ‎

“A quick win in the peace efforts was the resolution of the conflict between David Toma, the owner of Agha Farm in Gyel district of Jos South and some herdsmen. Toma seized two cows following the destruction of his farm.

“On November 15, the MACBAN Chairman of BASSA LGA, Alhaji Isah Yau, paid a compensation of N500,000 to Toma, who subsequently released the cows. All parties signed an undertaking to embrace peace in the state.”

VOCAL CLERIC

Dachomo has been outspoken about the killings in Plateau and other parts of the north-central.

A video of Dachomo’s speech at a burial site of victims of violent attacks in the Heipang community of Plateau recently went viral on social media.

The pastor has repeatedly said Christians are being “terrorised and persecuted” in northern Nigeria.

Dachomo had recently threatened to report Nigeria to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“The world needs to know that what we are saying is not false. I will go to any length to prove that this government is lying,” he told PUNCH.

The presidential aide’s visit comes amid the ongoing conversations around the allegations of Christian persecution in Nigeria.

The debate reached a crescendo when United President Donald Trump issued a threat of military action in Nigeria over the matter.

Trump has also redesignated Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” over the issue.

The federal government has, however, refuted claims of religious killings in the country.