Authorities Admit Army is Undermanned in Plateau State
By Masara Kim
(JOS) At least 20 people have been killed in Plateau State after TruthNigeria issued a terror alert for residents south of the state capital, Jos. Among the victims are four civilian guard volunteers killed in what local leaders describe as “targeted attacks.” Across Nigeria, these ordinary community members locally known as “vigilantes” have become the first responders during violent terrorist invasions, long before Nigerian military arrive on the scene.
TruthNigeria had on August 15 warned residents in the region 20-50 miles south of Jos of planned attacks including ambushes by terrorists. Despite circulating the alert by text message to local officials, residents were left vulnerable, with more than 20 fatalities recorded in less than two weeks.
As the sun began to wane at 3:30 p.m. in the town of Butura Kampani on August 26, Mrs. Tawa Samson, a dedicated civilian guard leader, was fatally wounded by sniper fire. Just moments prior, she had been helping law-enforcement protect local civilian residents making a living at a mining camp on the outskirts of the village. While returning home via motorcycle taxi with two others, terrorists hiding in nearby cornfields opened fire, killing her and one other passenger. Only the motorcycle driver was lucky to escape with severe gunshot injuries, TruthNigeria learned. Just weeks prior, on July 28, Samson’s son was shot in the leg by terrorists while on guard duty in Butura Kampani and remains in critical condition in the hospital, TruthNigeria learned.
“This attack on Tawa was not a coincidence,” according to Sabastine Magit, a community leader of Butura, alleging deliberate targeting by terrorists named as members of the Fulani ethnicity.
“Three months before Tawa’s murder, Julius Mangai, a leader of the local vigilante team, was also targeted and killed. His murder came after Fulani terrorists threatened to assassinate seven vigilante leaders [in Butura] to facilitate their plans to invade the town, which had been difficult due to the community’s vigilant efforts,” Magit wrote.
“Just a day before Tawa’s murder, two young vigilante volunteers were killed and another was injured in nearby Maikatako, further indicating a coordinated effort aimed at making our communities vulnerable” Magit added. TruthNigeria learned that two civilian volunteers perished while confronting terrorists in Maikatako on August 25. The evening attack around 7 PM saw the community defenders, numbering fewer than ten and armed only with homemade single-shot pipe guns, facing off against dozens of terrorists with assault rifles. Yohanna Dalok, a youth leader in Maikatako, told TruthNigeria the team resisted for over an hour before soldiers arrived from a base 1.5 miles away.
“By that time, the damage had been done,” Dalok said. “We had lost two men, and another person was injured,” he said, crediting TruthNigeria’s terror alerts for the team’s early preparation.
County officials have confirmed the attacks in Bokkos. “It is very devastating,” said Mahwel Wallamko Joseph, the Deputy Chairman of Bokkos county (Local Government Area). “Just two days ago, two people were killed in Maikatako village. Today, we are mourning another two. And these are just the ones we are aware of,” Joseph said to TruthNigeria.
“As a local government we are doing our best to secure the lives of our citizens but the more we try, the harder it becomes,” he said, adding his team has also faced attacks.
“There is no attack that happens that we do not visit the site to encourage the people in person but many times they [terrorists] opened fire on our teams,” he said. “Sometimes they even engage government security forces in shootouts,” he added.
Three days before the attack in Maikatako, another terrorist assault claimed the life of a civilian guard volunteer 15 miles away in Rim, located in Riyom County, with ongoing skirmishes reported between civilian guards and terrorist groups imposing camps around the State’s borders, according to local leaders and lawmakers speaking to TruthNigeria. During one such encounter on August 18, at least 12 people were killed with more than 20 reported missing near the border with Nasarawa State.
Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has insisted on Aug. 22 that communities must acquire combat skills. to defend themselves. “Whether we are in a war or not, it is a survival instinct,” Musa said in a television interview with a Channels TV Anchor. His advice has sparked wide criticism by some who fear that citizens will take the law into their own hands.
However, according to an AI search, his counsel reflects several key factors, including an overstretched and under-resourced security force infrastructure. In April 2025, the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS, parallel to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States) stated that the military, police and other intelligence agencies cannot protect every community from attacks nationwide due to limited resources.
Masara Kim is a senior editor of TruthNigeria.
