Thirteen individuals—predominantly children and the elderly—have been confirmed dead following coordinated attacks on Juwan and Manja communities in Plateau State’s Bokkos and Mangu Local Government Areas. The assailants, believed to be armed herdsmen, also set several homes ablaze during the assaults.
The more lethal of the two incidents occurred Thursday night in Juwan, Tangur District of Bokkos LGA, where ten residents lost their lives and several others sustained serious injuries. Hours earlier, in Manja, located within the Chafem Chiefdom of Mangu LGA, three farmers were killed while working their fields, ambushed without warning.
The timely intervention of security personnel, prompted by a distress call from those who managed to flee, prevented an even higher death toll.
Bokkos Local Government Chairman Amalau Samuel confirmed the attacks, condemning them as “barbaric and inhuman,” and called for urgent action to prevent further bloodshed in the region.
“The attackers came late at night and started killing innocent people. They were going from house to house, and where they could not gain entrance, they broke through the ceiling,” the LG boss said.
“Those affected mostly are the aged and children who could not run, while those agile fled for safety”.
The terrorists in the other attack in Manja, Chafem Kingdom of Mangu, killed three persons on the farm with over twenty houses burnt before the intervention of security operatives.
A member representing Mangu South in the Plateau State House of Assembly, Mathew Kwarpo, said the terrorists invaded the community and killed three people before they were repelled by security men in conjunction with the youths.
According to the parliamentarian, the marauders later launched another attack that day, during which they burned down over twenty houses.
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Kwarpo said that due to the attackers’ large number, the people of the community had to flee for safety, though no casualty was recorded.
“In the second attack, there was no casualty, but the people are already displaced. So, we are appealing to both the state and federal governments to come to our aid.
“The attacks in recent times on our communities are just too much. Anytime they issued notice of an attack, they would fulfill it.
“The security men are no doubt trying their best, but they are being overpowered. This is a calculated attempt to seize our land from us and to occupy our land illegally. So we are calling on President Tinubu to intervene,” he said.
Several communities across Bokkos, Bassa, and Mangu Local Government Areas of Plateau State have come under a wave of escalating violence, with repeated attacks by suspected herdsmen leaving a trail of devastation.
The renewed assaults have led to significant loss of lives, widespread displacement, and the destruction of homes and farmlands—deepening the humanitarian and security crisis in the region. Residents, many of whom are still grieving past tragedies, now live under constant fear as the frequency and intensity of the attacks show no signs of abating.