By Lawrence Zongo
(Jos) Last Friday three children and a teenager were gunned down by Fulani militia in a Plateau village, but when Nigerian media noticed it Sunday, they dismissed it as a “reprisal” for cattle rustling.
And in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, the unwritten law of reprisal is almost ironclad, according to Berom Moulders’ Association President Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri, talking to TruthNigeria.
“Any time the Fulani herders want to justify a killing of unarmed Berom people in Plateau, they charge that their cattle were rustled,” said Mwantiri, a practicing attorney. “In fact, their cattle may have been rustled by other Fulani herders, but they are loathe to indict their tribesmen, so they blame it on the Berom people,” he went on to say.
For years, Fulani ethnic militia have done large massacres of innocent citizens in the Middle Belt under claims of “retaliation” for rustling. The murder of four Berom children in the village of Dorong in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area happened Friday evening, Dec. 12, and went unnoticed by most media until Sunday, Dec. 14.
The Dorong assault of 30 Fulani men armed with assault rifles, began around 7:30 p.m., Friday, December 12th.
Dorong is a small farming hamlet of about 400 people in the Foron District. According to eyewitnesses, more than 30 armed men entered the village, carrying rifles and machetes.
David Gyang, a community leader who witnessed the attack, told TruthNigeria that the attackers operated without resistance.
“There was a military checkpoint less than one kilometer from the attack site,” Gyang said. “But during the attack, the soldiers (at a nearby outpost) were firing into the air. They did not stop the attackers.”
He said residents confronted heavily armed militants with crude weapons.
“About 50 of us tried to defend the village with locally made guns, arrows, and machetes,” he said. “If we were allowed to carry proper weapons, we could defend ourselves. Instead, the army is in the city.”
How Nigerian Media Reported the Murders of Children as a Reprisal
“Four children were killed on Thursday in a reprisal attack allegedly carried out by armed Fulani herdsmen in Dorong village, Foron District of Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State, amid rising tensions following recent attacks on herders and cattle rustling in the area,” according to Zagazola.org on Saturday Dec. 13.
Citing unnamed sources, Zagazola reported that “the attack occurred less than 48 hours after coordinated assaults on pastoral communities in Barkin Ladi, Jos East and Riyom LGAs, during which no fewer than 168 cattle were rustled and several others poisoned.”
Zagazola had specifics on the cattling rustling, reporting that on Wednesday evening, “Militia from Plateau rustled 137 cattle around Nding community in Fan District of Barkin Ladi LGA, while another 34 cattle were driven away from Kukukah community in Jos East LGA, with only three later returning.” The unnamed sources went on to say that “A community leader in Foron District, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Dorong attack was carried out in the early hours of Thursday,” yet the actual attack took place on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Nonetheless, a reprisal was in the making according to the unnamed source speaking to Zagazola:
“The atmosphere has been tense since the cattle rustling incidents. People have been living in fear, warning that reprisals were imminent if nothing was done. Sadly, those fears have now materialized,” the source said.
On Sunday a slew of Nigerian media had copied the Zagazola story and reprised it on their platforms. These included
The Cable; Daily Post; Business Day Nigeria; MediaTalkAfrica; and Trackingterrorism.org., among other publications.
In the court of public opinion, the Berom people stood accused.
Yet, Barrister Mwantiri had refuted the accusation of rustling in his interview with Daily Trust on Dec. 10, which quoted him as saying, “The leadership of Berom Youth Moulders Association (BYM), has denied any incident of cattle rustling around the Nding area, emphasizing that there was no cattle rustling on Wednesday as reported by the herding community.”
“The claim is false and a calculated attempt to justify terror attacks. The fan has no grazing area, and the Fulani have long been warned to stay away. If there were any issues, security agencies should be allowed to investigate,” Dalyop stated.
A Mother’s Grief: “My Children Were All I Had”
But Mrs. Nvou Sambo, who lost three of her children, is beyond consolation. She collapsed on the bare ground outside her home, now riddled with bullet holes. A 17-year-old girl living in her compound and three of her children—all under the age of 10—had been shot dead Friday. Neighbors gathered around her, but no one could console her. At one point, she whispered that she wished she had stayed inside with them.
Speaking briefly to TruthNigeria, Mrs. Sambo blamed the attackers—identified by residents as Fulani militias—and questioned why soldiers stationed in the area failed to intervene.
Pattern of Violence Across Barkin Ladi
David Nanpet, a volunteer with the International Committee on Nigeria (ICON), said the Dorong killings reflect a wider pattern of targeted violence across the Barkin Ladi Local Government Area.
“In December alone, at least 14 Christians were killed in attacks across Pandadi, Dorong, and Bakin Kogi,” Nanpet told TruthNigeria. “Some are killed in their homes at night. Others are attacked on their farms. Some are kidnapped for ransom and later killed.”
Nanpet criticized what he described as a deliberate concentration of security forces in urban areas.
“The soldiers are in the cities,” he said. “The villages are left exposed. Dorong is a clear example—no soldiers deployed in the village, even though the nearest base is only about 37 kilometers away.”
He warned that the continued failure to protect rural communities is emboldening attackers.
Christmas Fears as Threats of More Attacks Emerge
Beyond Dorong, fear is spreading across Plateau State as reports of planned attacks circulate ahead of Christmas.
A U.S.-based humanitarian organization, Equipping the Persecuted, has warned of possible Christmas Day attacks in Riyom, Bokkos, and Barkin Ladi local government areas. Speaking at a roundtable in Washington, D.C., convened by the International Committee on Nigeria and the African Jewish Alliance, the group’s founder, Judd Saul, said intelligence suggests militants are regrouping for coordinated assaults.
“They are gathering forces around the Plateau–Nasarawa, Nasarawa–Benue, and Nasarawa–Kaduna borders,” Saul said. “They are planning to strike on Christmas Day.”
Lawrence Zongo is a Human Rights Defender and reports on conflict for TruthNigeria.
