PLATEAU State Governor, Caleb Muftwang, has described the recent wave of violence that has claimed over 50 lives and displaced thousands as a genocidal attack, alleging that the assault on the region is sponsored and deliberate.
The ICIR reported that attacks, which began on March 28, 2025, escalated with a series of coordinated invasion of villages across Bokkos Local Government Area of the North-Central state.
On Wednesday, April 2 the attack escalated in several communities of the LGA, displacing many and leaving a trail of destruction behind in Ruwi, Hurti, Tadai, Manguna, and Dafo communities.
The death toll from the recent attacks reportedly rose to 52, according to local authorities on April 4.
This followed the recovery of 40 more bodies on Wednesday and Thursday night while the search and rescue team kept combing the bushes for missing persons.
The governor made the remarks during Tuesday night’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today, stressing that the attacks in were sponsored and aimed at wiping out entire communities.
Muftwang, who expressed outrage over the continued killings, attributed the attacks to unidentified terrorist groups.
“I can tell you in all honesty that I cannot find any explanation other than genocide sponsored by terrorists. The question is, who are the persons behind the organisers of this terrorism? This is what the security agencies must help us to unravel,” the governor said.
“We must come to the point where we know the sponsors because it is not just the work of ordinary people. This is being sponsored from somewhere, and I am sure that in the coming days, the security agencies will work together – not at cross purposes but in unison – to be able to bring out the requisite intelligence that will help us to put this matter behind us.”
The chairman of the Bokkos Cultural Development Council (BCDC), Farmasum Fuddang, on Wednesday April 2, accused suspected Fulani herders of carrying out the assaults.
Fuddang, said that more than 50 villages in Bokkos have been attacked in the past six months.
Muftwang, decried that bandits have taken over 64 communities in his state.
“These communities that have been recently attacked were part of those that were invaded in 2023 but survived. The Ruwi community that was first attacked lost about 17 people in 2023 but they bounced back to show you the resilience of the people,” the governor said.
The ICIR reported that President Bola Tinubu pledged to bring those responsible for the gruesome attacks to justice, vowing they would face the full weight of the law.
In a statement on Saturday, April 5, Tinubu described the violence as “unacceptable” and directed security agencies to hunt down the perpetrators.
He commiserated with Governor Mutfwang and the people of Plateau State, assuring them of his support in ending the spate of ‘wanton bloodletting on the Plateau.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and others blamed President Bola Tinubu’s administration for the deteriorating security situation in the country.
Atiku, reacting to the tragedy, said the persistent loss of lives across Nigeria is a direct consequence of the government’s failed security architecture, which he described as “an endemic nationwide phenomenon.”
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.