PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has vowed that those behind the gruesome attacks on several communities in Plateau State will be apprehended and made to face the full weight of the law.
Reacting to the spate of killings in Bokkos Local Government Area, the President, in a statement on Saturday, April 5, described the violence as “unacceptable” and directed security agencies to hunt down the perpetrators.
The statement, which was released by Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the president, Bayo Onanuga, extended his condolences to the families of victims in Ruwi, Hurti, Tadai, Manguna, and Dafo communities, where dozens were killed and homes destroyed.
The renewed violence, which began on March 28, 2025, escalated with a series of coordinated attacks on villages across Bokkos LGA.
The ICIR reported that the death toll, which rose after the recovery of 40 additional bodies to 52, on Wednesday and Thursday, has left communities in mourning and further exposed the vulnerability of rural populations to violent attacks.
According to the Bokkos Cultural Development Council (BCDC) Vanguard, 31 victims were buried in a mass grave, including five children burned beyond recognition in Hurti village.
Other victims were killed in Ruwi, Manguna, and Daffo villages.
Reacting to this, Tinubu commiserated with Governor Caleb Mutfwang and the people of Plateau State, assuring them of his support in ending the spate of ‘wanton bloodletting on the Plateau.’
He further directed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to work closely with state authorities to bring immediate relief to survivors and help rebuild affected communities.
“These intermittent attacks should have no place in our country at a time when we are working so hard to restore peace and order in all parts of our country. This unfortunate incident will never dampen or slow us down in our duty to protect every Nigerian citizen. Instead, we will work harder to exterminate forces of evil wherever they are lurking in our country,” the president read.
Background
On Wednesday, April 2 alone, over 10 people were reportedly killed when gunmen stormed several communities, burning homes, injuring dozens, and leaving many still unaccounted for.
This was according to the initial comment by the Bokkos Cultural Development Council (BCDC) Vanguard.
The affected communities include Mongor, Daffo, Manguna, Hurti, and Tadai.
These attacks came just six days after gunmen killed 10 others during a wake in the Ruwi community, bringing the weekly death toll to 20.
However, local leaders and rescue teams have said the actual number has now hit 52.
Speaking to journalists after the Wednesday attack, Chairman of the Bokkos Cultural Development Council (BCDC), Farmasum Fuddang, said more than 50 villages in Bokkos have been attacked in the past six months.
He accused suspected Fulani herders of carrying out the assaults, an allegation denied by the Plateau Gan Allah Fulani Development Association (GAFDAN), which called it “a mere fabrication.”
The chairman of the Fulani Association, Garba Abdullahi, dismissed the allegation that Fulani carried out the attacks, describing it as “a mere fabrication.”
He said, “While we sympathise with all the affected communities, we condemn the attacks in totality. It is barbaric and uncalled for. The Fulani community wishes to state categorically that the allegations by Bokkos Cultural Development Council of Fulani’s involvement in attacking their communities are a mere fabrication and falsehood.”
Atiku blames attack on ‘failed’ security architecture
Meanwhile, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has blamed President Bola Tinubu’s administration for the deteriorating security situation in the country, following the death of 52 people in a recent attack on communities in the Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State.
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.”
“The failure of Bola Tinubu’s security architecture has now become an endemic nationwide phenomenon with repeated killings, more of which do not even make the headlines.
“Nigerians are now being forced to get used to such news of wanton killings, and I again offer my condolences to the bereaved communities of Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State and the affected families.
“I wish to restate my counsel to the Tinubu-led FG to reconfigure its security architecture to meet the needs of protecting the lives and properties of our people,” he wrote.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M