Critics of U.S.-Nigeria Policy Call for Revision of Counter-terrorism Doctrine
By Masara Kim and Lawrence Zongo
(Jos, BREAKING)–Multiple Christian communities roughly 30 miles south of Jos are under attack this evening, with violence centered in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area (County) of Plateau State, Nigeria. The attacks are concentrated around coordinates 9°33’15.09″N, 8°53’31.27″E — the town of Barkin Ladi, which serves as headquarters for Sector 4 of the military’s Operation Safe Haven task force.
Berom youth leader Barrister Solomon Dalyop reports the violence began around 6:30 pm local time and was still ongoing as of 8:30 pm. A defending force of mobile police, volunteer community guardsmen (called “vigilantes”) and a smattering of Nigerian soldiers, is repelling the hail of bullets from the larger force of Fulani mercenaries. Whether the full force of Operation Safe Haven stationed in or near the town is deployed is unclear.
Local leaders say Fulani ethnic militia stormed the Sabon Layi suburb, firing sporadically at residents. The attacks have since spread to surrounding areas. Areas currently affected are the following: Sabon Layi; Rakung; Gamgare; and General Hospital area.
He also noted “suspicious movements around Low-cost.” Casualties: At least three people have been confirmed dead after the storming of the Sabon Layi community.
Additional threats: Dalyop reported armed groups on motorbikes were spotted moving from the direction of Zatex Company toward the Low-cost area, warning of a possible imminent attack. Military response: Troops in the area are led by Col. Victor Asuquo of Operation Safe Haven. The extent of military intervention is not yet confirmed.
On the ground: Photos circulating on social media show large crowds of women and children fleeing a sparsely populated rural settlement believed to be on the outskirts of Barkin Ladi town.
David Nanpet, eyewitness documenter for the International Committee on Nigeria (ICON) in Barkin Ladi, said the attackers arrived shouting and shooting as they moved through the area. “I saw three people killed,” he told TruthNigeria. Nanpet said the assault was still ongoing as of 6:15 p.m., with gunfire echoing across the community and Nigerian soldiers deployed in limited numbers struggling to contain the attackers.
He called for urgent reinforcement, saying Fulani Militias were seen “by the hundreds, on motorcycles and others on foot” while residents fled for safety.
Residents said the attack spread fear across the town as families ran from their homes and nearby streets emptied under the sound of sustained gunfire. The number of people wounded or missing had not been confirmed at press time.
The incident unfolded in the evening as darkness approached the area, with visibility already dropping and residents scrambling for cover.
The attack adds to the growing toll of violence affecting Christian communities in Plateau State, where villages have repeatedly come under armed raids, often leaving families dead, displaced, or wounded in the aftermath.
The attack on Barkin Ladi is the latest in a string of bloody attacks on Christian communities by radicalized Fulani terrorists in the northern counties of Plateau State. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom cited the Fulani ethnic militia as the greatest threat to Christian communities in the Middle Belt in a White Paper published Friday.
“In recent years, armed actors from a Fulani ethnic background have perpetrated some of the most notorious, visible, and deadly attacks on religious communities in Nigeria—often but not exclusively against Christians,” according to USCIRF.
Missionary Judd Saul, founder of TruthNigeria as well as Equipping the Persecuted, has reported to Congressmen on Capitol Hill hearings and in podcast interviews that an obstacle in the U.S. Nigeria alliance is that the U.S. Government’s Counterterrorism strategy does not target Fulani ethnic militia as a terrorist threat.
Armed Fulani ethnic militias attacked Ngbra-Zongo (“Gah-bra Zongo”) village in Kwall District, Northwest of Jos, Plateau State shortly after midnight on May 8, killing 11 Christians, including pregnant women, children, and elderly residents, according to survivors and community leaders.
Lawrence Zongo is a conflict reporter for TruthNigeria, and Masara Kim is the senior editor of TruthNigeria.
