Irresponsible practices in the journalism profession are a form of headless dance. Many engage in it by misleading, misinforming, and disuniting Nigerians with no thought regarding the consequences. These fellows ignore the profession’s ethics, using their platform to vent personal biases rather than report based on facts. On April 8, 2025, the Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang, was on a Channels TV programme, Politics Today. In his introductory remarks between 8.00-8:05 pm, the Channels TV presenter animatedly announced that “suspected herdsmen” were responsible for the latest attacks in Plateau State. By 7:40 pm, the presenter stated that Governor Mutfwang said attackers were “not herdsmen”.
Channels TV invited Mutfwang to find out what happened. Before the governor talked, the interviewer had announced the perpetrators of the crime. Since he knew, why did he invite the governor? On April 16, 2025, after another round of attacks in Plateau State, the same presenter, between 8.00-8:05 pm, announced with gusto, like someone elated culprits were Fulani, that herdsmen had been arrested. He did not attribute his claims on both dates to any source. There was no, “according to the police…”, “according to Plateau State government officials…”, “according to an eyewitness…”, or “according to our correspondent…” On April 16, after the presenter said herders had been arrested, he ought to show a video of the sources from which he got this information. There was none.
Also, he did not clarify if the herders he claimed were arrested were responsible for pre-April 8 or pre-April 16 attacks. With no sources, only the Channels TV presenter announced the ethnicity of the attackers and confirmed it. Where in the world would this pass for professional TV broadcasting, which traditionally places emphasis on pictures and sound? I urge Channels TV owners, John Momoh and his wife, to call for the recorded programme of April 8 and April 16, 2025, and see how their presenter single-handedly made big, unsubstantiated claims. News stations have a responsibility to inform listeners where their facts come from because journalists are not always there when events happen. They report. What they do not witness should have a source, even if they claim anonymity.
Reporting that people from an ethic group kill others is a matter that can trigger if not substantiated. It is a surprise that the news producer and news director of Channels TV permitted their presenter on April 8 and 16 to ascribe crimes to Nigerians without attributing this to sources. It happens regularly on Channels TV. This is a TV station, not a social media platform where anyone can make any claims. It is a surprise the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission hasn’t taken action. The foregoing forms the backdrop for my focus here. My focus is to state that many have plainly lost their heads when it comes to reporting attacks for which it is routine to claim, “suspected Fulani herdsmen”.
These days, reporters and their editors automatically accept the “suspected Fulani herdsmen” narrative without adding other relevant details, without any further research. Intellectual laziness has set in. It has been in a situation where there are many angles, nuances, and reasons some attacks happen where they happen. But intellectually lazy fellows care nothing about that. And they are the loudest. They do not try to comprehend the different nuances and local textures of the various attacks. Once the whiff is “suspected Fulani herdsmen”, any ‘report’ is good to go. The single narrative of “suspected Fulani herdsmen” works for them as most of their listeners will neither question an unsubstantiated claim, nor identify the unprofessional manner it is presented.
Sometimes, the challenge is not even about travelling to the theatre of attacks to get the right information, which many reporters do not do. Whatever little information there is, right or wrong, some headless dancers do not process it. Any information beyond “suspected Fulani herdsmen” is too complex for them to process, let alone arrive at a carefully considered view needed for balanced reportage. Instead, they push the simplistic narrative of “suspected Fulani herdsmen”, when these attacks actually have diverse perpetrators behind them. There is enough information that indicates that the nation’s insecurity is a complex one, and attacks in different parts of the country do not fall into a neat compartment. They cannot be seen from the perspective of any observer who carefully digests the issues and the different participants in this theatre of the bloody.
Such journalists hear from locals about attackers whose Fulfulde is not the Nigerian variant, and kidnappers who don’t speak any Nigerian language. These responsible journalists talk of the arrest of criminals who are foreigners. But those who do not step out of their office go on with the single narrative of “suspected Fulani herdsmen”. They do not care about the finer details in these attacks. They don’t listen when responsible journalists inform Nigerians how criminals come in from Mali, kidnap Nigerians, collect ransom money and return to Mali. Even when responsible journalists say that “certainly 90 per cent of herders found committing any crime are not Nigerians” (on Journalist Hangout, TVC News, April 18, 2025), the headless dancers are not interested in taking note of such details.
These fellows are not interested when Nigerians in the core north, including Gombe State, say they know herders come in from Niger Republic and they feed their crops to cattle resulting in clashes and death of farmers.
All that headless dancers are keen to announce to their gullible listeners is that “suspected Fulani herdsmen” are responsible for every attack. In the event their claim of “suspected Fulani herdsmen”, which they attribute to no reliable sources, is ethnic profiling, it is inciting others to hate the Fulani of Nigeria, many of whom know nothing about the violent acts committed. In fact, many Fulani herders are themselves victims of criminal acts. I met some in remote areas in the north as they rushed to cattle markets to notify buyers and sellers when their herds were rustled.
Elected politicians also give useful information. The Plateau State governor on Channels TV, April 8, 2025, told of the many angles and nuances that made up the dynamics of the attacks in his state. Mutfwang said attackers were heard speaking with foreign accents. Many of the criminals arrested had large sums of money that could only be remitted to someone higher. It meant there was an angle of a well-organised criminal syndicate. Plateau issue is way beyond the typical herders we see every day. Muftwang said some locations attacked had mineral resources to be mined. Attackers came in large numbers, often came at specific period of the year, appeared to be strangers in the areas, attacked and escaped in the night. So, locals could not identify who they were as everyone was concerned about escaping.
One person from Plateau State said many attackers were possibly recruited to carry out attacks in defence of their fellows who had previously been involved in clashes with locals. These attackers do not come with cattle and shepherd sticks. They came with guns, caused havoc, and sneaked away. These are relevant details about attackers that some headless dancers are too mentally lazy to digest, or write reports about, that catch every angle. Nothing here falls neatly into their pre-conceived narrative of “suspected Fulani herdsmen”. Nonetheless, they oversimplify a complex problem by demonising even innocent herdsmen of Fulani origin. NBC should not continue to watch this unprofessional conduct. More effectively, persons of Fulani origin should drag these fellows to court, just to make them fritter away money over ethnic profiling and incitement to hate that they cast as ‘report’. Whoever engages in irresponsible journalism, forever making unsubstantiated claims that unfairly demonise an ethnic group, should be made to fund long and unending litigation in court.
Credit:Punch