The Berom Youth-Moulders Association (BYM) has threatened legal action against Professor Ayo Omotayo, director-general of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Kuru, for what the BYM leadership claims were insulting remarks made by Omotayo during a Friday television interview.
A wave of attacks on the institution in the past few weeks has killed about four people, including security personnel. The NIPSS DG incited the wrath of the Berom people and the general population of the Plateau when he called the Berom ethnic group “Berom Militias” in an interview.
Omotayo said that while security agencies have not yet revealed the true identities of the attackers, he did say that young people posing as “Berom Militias” have been planning attacks on the institution in order to get compensation for the land they own.
Many state residents have taken to social media to call for an apology and the dismissal of the DG in response to the comments, which have caused extensive outrage.
But according to a statement released by the BYM’s National Publicity Secretary, Rwang Tengwong, the association threatened to sue Omotayo unless he immediately removed the insulting comment and offered a complete apologies.
According to the group’s statement headlined “A call for the immediate withdrawal of derogatory reference to Berom people as Berom Militia,” the NIPSS’s comments constituted regrettable ethnic profiling that ought not to have emanated from an individual of this calibre.
“The unfortunate public statement attributed to the Director-General of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) characterised the Berom people collectively as ‘Berom Militia.'” This comment has caught the attention of the Berom Nation.
“This portrayal is completely inaccurate, careless, and deceiving. It also amounts to a serious injustice towards a whole ethnic group that has, throughout the years, persevered in their dedication to peaceful coexistence, peacebuilding, and the unity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, even in the face of unfathomable losses, displacement, and assaults.
When the leader of a major national policy institution speaks, it carries a lot of weight. Such remarks have far-reaching effects on public opinion, policymaking, security perceptions, and the national and international image of a people.