JUST when is the orgy of killings going on to end? This is a question that should agitate the minds of every right-thinking citizen of Nigeria whenever reports of violent outbreaks and deaths emanate from Plateau State or any other state in the country. The case of Plateau, which in years past emerged as a melting pot of religion and ethnicity, has assumed a peculiar dimension with mindless killings, savagery and all manner of extreme behaviours recycled almost in perpetuity.
What started as community brawls, clashes among adherents of different faiths and ethnic tension during military rule has in recent years assumed a hydra-headed monster that defies definition. There is the religious dimension of the crisis. There are elements of herder onslaughts on farmers. There is also the resource war, hidden under the wraps of land grabbing, competition, and insurgency. Surprisingly, from one civilian government to another and with heaps of reports from fact-finding missions submitted, there appears to be no visible end in sight.The recent attack on the Bin’per community in Mangu Local Government Area of the state is a grim reminder that the illegal shedding of blood in the once serene Plateau State is far from over. No fewer than 24 persons were killed in the community. An eyewitness, Daniel Musa, stated that the heavily armed attackers moved from house to house, forcing their way in and attacking residents who were asleep. He said: ‘We have confirmed over 24 deaths, while several others sustained serious injuries and some people are still missing.’ Another resident, John Dalyop, also told newsmen that the situation was terrible. ‘We expected the new Commissioner of Police in the state to act quickly and go after those responsible,’ he said, calling on the state government and the Federal Government to urgently strengthen security around vulnerable communities in Mangu and other parts of the state.
Reports indicated that the state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ayodeji Faniyan, immediately visited the Bin’per community in the wake of the attacks. He also undertook an on-the-spot assessment and commiserated with the affected families, traditional rulers and other stakeholders. Beyond that visit, the Joint Security Task Force operating in the state, code-named Operation Enduring Peace, has relocated its tactical headquarters from Jos, the state capital, to Mangu Local Government Area. The Commander of the task force, who is also the General Officer Commanding 3 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major-General Williams Dangana, said that the relocation was aimed at improving operational efficiency and response time. He said: ‘Establishing a physical presence in Mangu will enable leadership to maintain direct, real-time assessment of the security situation and ensure timely tactical responses.’
For more than two decades, Plateau State has been synonymous with cycles of deadly attacks, reprisals, and communal grief, with villages in Barkin Ladi, Riyom, Mangu, Bokkos and Jos South recording countless victims. These communities have repeatedly made headlines for mass killings, burning of homes, displacement of thousands, and mass burials over the decades. And thus, the question cannot but arise: When will the Plateau killings end? This newspaper wrote
editorials on this topic in the past, but we cannot be tired of raising valid questions about human existential issues. The question being raised is not a political one; it is a human one being asked by the stakeholders who are directly affected: the farmers who can no longer go to their farms, the children who have become orphans, and members of communities who are tired of burying their dead.
From 2001-2025, a Plateau State fact-finding committee reported that 420 communities were attacked in the state, with 11,749 people killed. Between 2023 and 2025, Amnesty International reported that 167 rural communities in eight Plateau LGAs were attacked. The humanitarian body also documented 38 separate attacks by armed herders in Plateau State. There is also a report from the EUAA’s review of ACLED data, which recorded 220 security incidents in Plateau State between 2024 and August 2025. The report indicated that Fulani ethnic militias and Plateau communal militias were involved in the majority of incidents. In 2020 alone, ACLED recorded 41 attacks classified as violence against civilians in Plateau State, including five abductions. Another report indicated that in December 2023, suspected herders attacked 17 communities, killing at least 140 people. The victims mentioned in the data above are human beings – fathers, children, and mothers – who were dispatched to their early graves on the altar of needless violence.
The issues behind this spate of violence are all within sight: the onslaughts on farmers by herders, resource competition, identity politics, state weakness, religion and extremism, lack of justice and accountability, as well as the politicisation and proliferation of weapons. When will the killings end? It will end when the state is ready to stand up for justice, truth and reconciliation. Recently, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu visited the state, after which the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, declared that a CCTV programme would be implemented to curb insecurity in the state. Up to this moment, we have not heard any news about that. While the Federal Government must act concretely on securing our communities, Plateau governors must also stop throwing their hands up in the air each time a security challenge occurs in their domain. Because the state has the monopoly of violence, it must rise to the occasion and defend the defenceless.
We state categorically that the Plateau killings will not end either by accident or by declaration. They will end through the concerted efforts of stakeholders and the determination of government to call a spade by its name. The peacebuilding process should not target the end of gunshots alone, but the rise of trust, where ethnic and religious tensions would be silenced forever.