Civilian Guards Overwhelmed as Soldiers 3 Miles Away Stood Down
By Masara Kim
(Jos)– At least 27 people were killed Monday night in concurrent attacks on Christian villages south of Jos, the capital of Plateau State, TruthNigeria has learned. Among the dead were four civilian guards whom local leaders say were outgunned as armed assailants struck multiple communities at nearly the same time.
The attacks were reported in three villages located about 30 to 55 miles south of Jos, raising renewed concerns about peace and security across the state, according to Governor Caleb Mutfwang. Witnesses and local representatives interviewed by TruthNigeria described a rapid night assault on sleeping residents, including women and children, by Fulani-speaking attackers.
Reuters framed the violence through the government-preferred language of farmer-herder conflict. State Assemblyman Matthew Sylvanus Kwarpo, in contrast, described the attacks as motivated by land-grab and ethnic displacements.
The first attack began at about 10:30 p.m. in Rim village, Riyom County, when Fulani militants opened fire on a civilian guard post, killing two guards, youth leader Solomon Dalyop told TruthNigeria. As local guards tried to repel the attackers and protect more than 1,000 residents, shootings were reported about 40 miles away in Chakfem village, Mangu County. A third assault followed in Bin Mperr, a remote village outside the Mangu county seat.
Dalyop said the battle lasted about two hours and alleged that soldiers stationed roughly three miles away did not intervene despite calls for help.
While Dalyop said he was trying to reach army commanders in Jos, Sokhotden Mathias, a community development leader in Mangu, was dealing with simultaneous attacks in his area. “Yesterday we had concurrent attacks,” Mathias told TruthNigeria. “They were attacking a community in Chakfem and attacking Bin Mper community of Kombun district at the same time. You can imagine this kind of situation—multiple mass attacks confronted only by a handful of untrained volunteers with sticks and hunting rifles,” said Mathias, an official of the Mwagavul Development Association, who described the violence in Mangu as a “daily occurrence.”
“It is a thing of concern because it is a daily happening,” Mathias said. “Within Mangu area, these attacks have been continuous. Even before today, there were reports of attacks in all the border areas of Mangu LGA,” he said, acknowledging TruthNigeria’s advance warnings of possible attacks in the region before Monday night’s violence.
“Yesterday in the night, we heard rumours that the Fulani were coming to attack Mangu, particularly Bin Mper,” Mathias said. “Suddenly they came. They came through one of the border areas to attack this harmless community. People who do not have any weapon to protect themselves were killed—about 25 of them. Currently we have three injured, including a little baby.”
During the mass burial of the 25, Mangu youth leader, Jonathan Kyesmang shared more about the persisting violence in Mangu.
“They attacked one of our boys in Murish three days ago and he was buried. They came back the following day and attacked Jwak Maitumbi where they burned down houses, and businesses, as well as churches and a clinic belonging to our people. They destroyed our crops as well. As if that is not enough, we have not even finished mourning, and here is another attack from the same Fulani people,” Kyesmang said.
A witness and civilian guard leader in Bin Mper, Shadrach Ayuba, said he was shot during a surprise attack on the guard post and later learned that his wife and three children had been killed in their home.
“Last night, we were at our watch post, and at around 11 p.m., just minutes before midnight, gunshots suddenly erupted around us,” Ayuba told TruthNigeria. “I sprang up trying to escape and was shot in the leg. I grabbed the wound with my hand and limped away into the surrounding bushes.” Ayuba said two guards standing near him were killed instantly. “The attackers were speaking Fulani,” he said. “They chased me into my hideout before returning to invade homes.” While receiving treatment after the attack, Ayuba said he learned that his wife and three children had been killed. He also alleged that soldiers stationed about three miles away failed to respond to distress calls during the attack.
Another guard member, Jonathan Ishaku, said he escaped the assault but lost three children. He told TruthNigeria the attackers entered the community through surrounding cornfields.
“I was off duty last night based on our local arrangement,” Ishaku said. “Moments before the attack, I took a walk outside and suddenly heard footsteps. Before I could decide what to do, I heard gunshots, so I ran into the surrounding corn farms. I heard them march into my compound and fire several rounds at my family members, but I was helpless because I had nothing to defend them with. By the time I crept back into the house after the gunfire, my three children were dead, and my wife was fighting for her life with a bullet in her back.” Ishaku also alleged that soldiers ignored calls for help.
TruthNigeria’s calls and text messages to Captain Chinonso Oteh, spokesman for the joint military task force Operation Enduring Peace, were not answered. SP Alfred Alabo, spokesman for the Plateau State Police Command in Jos, also did not respond to TruthNigeria. In a statement reported by TVC News, however, Alabo said police had arrested a suspect in connection with the Bin Mper attack.
Matthew Sylvanus Kwarpo, a member of the Plateau State House of Assembly, faulted the response of both the military and police before, during and after the attacks. In an interview with TruthNigeria, he called for an independent investigation into possible security failures or complicity.
“There is a compromise somewhere, and there has to be a thorough independent investigation to know what really happened,” Kwarpo who represents Mangu at the Plateau House of Assembly told TruthNigeria.
“If it were in advanced countries, 25 people lost within an hour and buried in the next five hours, you know what would have happened,” Kwarpo said, adding that such an attack elsewhere would likely have triggered a major security lockdown. He also said he had received terror alerts before the attack.
“You will agree with me that whenever there is going to be an attack, there must be an alert or an alarm,” Kwarpo said. “There was intelligence gathered that Kombun district would be attacked. The security agencies were duly informed, including the military.” He said the attackers appeared to have traveled from far away and reached Mper despite those warnings.
“If the security agencies were duly informed but did not do enough to prevent the attack, that calls for serious concern,” he added. “Sometimes there are bad eggs among the security forces, whether in the military or police. There has to be an investigation to know what really happened.”
“This is really an attempt to seize our lands from us and displace us,” he said. “We have known that these are internal and external aggressors who have worked out plans to seize our lands. It is not hidden. We have known this for the past couple of years.” Kwarpo said at least four communities in Kombun district have been taken over and that displaced residents no longer have access to them. He called for international attention and intervention.
Masara Kim is an award-winning conflict reporter in Jos, Nigeria and a senior editor at TruthNigeria
