The leadership of the Berom Youth-Moulders Association (BYM) has issued a warning to Professor Ayo Omotayo, the Director-General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), indicating they will pursue legal action against him. This follows comments made by the DG during a Friday television interview, where he referred to the Berom people as “Berom Militias” while discussing recent security challenges at the institute.
Professor Omotayo made the remark while addressing a series of violent attacks on the NIPSS facility that resulted in four deaths. He alleged that individuals identifying as “Berom Militias” were responsible for the violence as part of a campaign to secure compensation for land usage. This characterization triggered significant backlash across Plateau State, leading citizens to demand both an apology and his removal from office.
Rwang Tengwong, the National Publicity Secretary for the BYM, released an official statement condemning the remarks as reckless and misleading. The organization argued that profiling the entire ethnic group as a militia is a severe injustice that ignores the group’s long-standing dedication to peace and national unity. The statement emphasized that such rhetoric from a high-ranking official could incite discrimination, put innocent citizens at risk, and misrepresent the community’s history of contributing to various sectors of Nigerian society.
The BYM has formally requested that Professor Omotayo unconditionally retract the statement, issue a public apology to the Berom people, and clarify that the ethnic group is not associated with any criminal factions. The association explicitly stated that failure to comply with these demands will result in the initiation of legal proceedings against the NIPSS Director-General.
