A coalition of indigenous youth groups in Plateau State says no fewer than 200 people have been killed in the Barkin Ladi axis over the past five months, in a fresh reminder of the scale of violence tearing through the state’s rural communities.
For families in Barkin Ladi, Riyom, Bokkos, Bassa, Mangu and other flashpoints, the period has brought recurring attacks, mass burials, displacement and ruined livelihoods. Children in some communities now attend school in fear, farmers have abandoned fertile lands to avoid ambushes, and entire settlements have emptied out as widows, orphans and the elderly try to rebuild lives repeatedly upended by bloodshed.
The violence has followed a grim pattern in recent months. Gunmen struck communities in Barkin Ladi on Palm Sunday in April, killing scores and destroying homes. Fresh attacks hit Barkin Ladi and neighbouring Riyom in June, causing more deaths and displacement. On July 4, three vigilante operatives were killed in an assault on Sabon Layi community in Barkin Ladi.
The most recent attack, on Kum and Wereng-Camp communities in Riyom, killed nine members of one family, including a two-month-old baby, and has again drawn national attention to the crisis. Residents said armed assailants invaded the communities late at night and opened fire indiscriminately for over an hour, forcing terrified villagers to flee into the bush. The village head was also seriously injured and hospitalised.
The Coalition of Plateau State Indigenous Youth Nationalities — representing the Afizere, Anaguta, Atakar, Atten, Berom, Irigwe, Kunlere, Mushere, Mwaghavul, Pan and Ron youth associations — described the situation as a humanitarian tragedy. Addressing journalists in Jos, coalition leader Barrister Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri said communities had become “theatres of bloodshed,” with ancestral lands invaded, villages reduced to desolation, farms abandoned and thousands of residents living in displacement, fear and uncertainty.
The coalition’s claim of 200 deaths in five months covers the period before the Department of State Services deployed operatives to Barkin Ladi in May 2026. Vanguard could not independently verify the figure. The group said attacks had become almost routine before the DSS established an operational camp in the area, and credited the deployment with a noticeable reduction in attacks, commending the agency’s professionalism and effectiveness.
The youths also defended ongoing intelligence-led security operations, addressing recent allegations against DSS personnel stationed around Kwok, known locally as “Ruga Ajalo.” While insisting such allegations must never be dismissed and deserve prompt, impartial investigation, the coalition warned against treating unverified claims as established fact, saying misinformation could distract security agencies from dismantling criminal networks. It noted that fresh attacks in neighbouring communities followed soon after the allegations surfaced, suggesting criminal elements may exploit such distractions to regroup.
The coalition called on the Federal Government, Plateau State Government, security agencies, traditional rulers, civil society and residents to unite against terrorism and banditry, and urged that intelligence-led deployments be expanded beyond Barkin Ladi to Riyom, Bokkos, Bassa, Mangu, Jos South, Kanam and Qua’an Pan.
Separately, Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang has urged the Nigerian Army to treat the state’s security crisis as combat operations against enemies of the state rather than conventional peacekeeping. Speaking at a farewell ceremony in Jos for outgoing 3 Division GOC Major General Folusho Oyinlola and the reception for his successor, Major General Williams Maxwell Dangana, Mutfwang described insecurity in Plateau and the North-Central as an existential threat to Nigeria’s sovereignty requiring a more decisive response.
He commended Oyinlola for his 18-month tenure, during which the state continued to attract investors and visitors despite security challenges, and pledged the state government’s full cooperation with the incoming GOC. Oyinlola, who oversaw five states — Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa and Taraba — said about 95 percent of his attention during his tenure went to Plateau alone, given its peculiar security challenges.
In a related development, the Plateau State Police Command said it has arrested two suspected arms traffickers, recovering a locally fabricated AK-47 rifle, another rifle, two magazines and 29 rounds of ammunition. Police spokesperson SP Alfred Alabo said the suspects are in the custody of the State CID, with investigations ongoing to trace the source of the weapons and identify other members of the network. Commissioner of Police Bassey Ewah warned against illegal possession and sale of firearms, reaffirming the Command’s commitment to dismantling criminal networks in the state.
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