BREAKING: Many Feared Killed As Terrorists Attack Plateau Community, Burn Houses
Not less than 27 people, including women and farmers, were killed on Monday by terrorists who launched a fresh attack on the Bindi-Jebbu area of the Tahoss community in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The assailants, suspected to be armed herdsmen, reportedly invaded the community in the early hours of Monday, shooting sporadically and setting homes ablaze.
Scores of villagers were also injured in the attack, with many said to be currently receiving treatment at various hospitals, including Jos University Teaching Hospital and Plateau Hospital.
The Chairman of Riyom Local Government Area, Bature Shuwa, who confirmed the attack however said he was en route to the affected community and could not confirm the exact casualty figures.
The National President of the Berom Youth Moulders Association, Dalyop Solomon, who also confirmed the killings was quoted as saying, “27 persons were killed, and many were injured. We have taken the bodies to different hospitals before the burial.”
Solomon added that arrangements for a mass burial were ongoing, and that security agencies had been informed.
However, neither the Nigerian Army’s Operation Safe Haven nor the Plateau State Police Command had issued an official statement regarding the attack at the time of filing this report.
Also, efforts to get the comment of the Police Command’s spokespersons, DSP Alabo Alfred, were not successful as he did not answer calls made to his number.
Monday’s killings marked the latest in a series of violent attacks that have plagued Plateau State for years, especially in the past few months.
Communities in Riyom, Barkin Ladi, Mangu, and Bokkos LGAs have endured repeated waves of attacks, often blamed on armed herdsmen targeting farming communities.
In June, over 20 people were killed in separate assaults in Mangu and Bokkos, while earlier in the year, coordinated night attacks across several villages in Bokkos and Barkin Ladi left more than 150 dead during Christmas Eve massacres.
Human Rights Watch and local civil society groups have repeatedly raised alarms over what they described as targeted killings and a climate of impunity in the state.
The sustained violence has led to mass displacements, destroyed livelihoods, and deepened mistrust among ethnic and religious communities in the state.
Despite multiple military operations and government pledges, peace has remained elusive in the state.
In response to the persistent insecurity, Governor Caleb Mutfwang-led State Government last week launched 150 agro-rangers under the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to help bolster rural security and protect farming communities.
During the launch of the agro-rangers, the governor reiterated his administration’s commitment to ending the bloodshed and called on the federal government for additional support.
