A Christian villager was shot inside his home. Photo courtesy of Masara Kim via Facebook.

Armed attackers killed at least nine people in Barkin Ladi, Mangu and Riyom Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Plateau State between Oct. 29 and Nov. 3, 2026. Community leaders and the Berom Youth Moulders-Association (BYM) blamed armed, Islamist Fulani herders for several of the attacks.

The deadliest attack struck Sabon Angwa, near Bet and Zat in Barkin Ladi’s Rop District, where the BYM said Christians were killed inside their homes. At the burial, BYM president Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri said residents had overheard an army officer tell a superior that the victims were illegal miners.

The attackers stormed Sabon Angwa at about 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29, and opened fire on residents. Resident Bulus Jok said the gunmen fired at anything they saw. Four people were killed in Sabon Angwa and one in Rakung.

Jok said an early warning alert had been sent to the authorities a day before the attack. The Plateau State Government had imposed a 6 p.m. curfew on Barkin Ladi, Bokkos and Mangu in September.

Four victims were buried on Nov. 4, according to a local reporter. Speaking at the burial, Mwantiri gave a separate count of seven people killed that night. He said two victims had already been buried beside their homes and another had been buried two days earlier. It was unclear whether his count included the death reported in Rakung. Mwantiri said the attackers returned during the burial of a victim from a nearby community and attacked people at the burial site in the presence of security personnel.

Mwantiri said the early alert had identified Mahanga, Fass and Lugere as Fulani settlements where armed men had been brought in to launch attacks on neighboring villages. He said that, given the shortage of personnel, security forces should have gone to those settlements and used drones to monitor the attackers instead of posting troops in the villages identified as targets. “But that did not happen until they had their way and killed these people right inside their homes,” he said. He added that the attackers pursued and killed some victims who had run to a hiding place.

Mwantiri said residents reported that an area commander, identified in the BYM statement as “Alpha,” visited the scene and was overheard telling a superior that the dead were illegal miners. Mwantiri challenged the officer to identify a mining site there. He also said the officer threatened to “beat the hell out of” the mourners and called them bastards.

Mwantiri called on Major General W. M. Dangana, General Officer Commanding 3 Division and commander of Operation Enduring Peace, to investigate the officer’s statement and determine whether it had been passed up the chain of command. He said the BYM wanted an investigation before drawing any conclusion about whether the officer had a role in the killings.

In Mangu LGA, gunmen attacked the communities of Toul and Halle at about 9 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1. Mangu resident Gabriel Titus said one person was killed and four others were injured in Toul. One person was killed and another was injured in Halle. A local reporter identified the man killed in Toul as Fwangshak Gambo and said the attackers were Fulani herders.

The same day in Jos East LGA, Fulani herders attacked Mr. Maje of Zabir, in Federe town, as he returned home from work, according to a local reporter. The attackers fled when they heard approaching vehicles, and Maje was taken to the hospital.

In Rachas village, in Barkin Ladi’s Heipang District, attackers killed 18-year-old vigilante Divine Dung Davou during a raid at about 12:23 a.m. on Nov. 3. The BYM attributed the attack to armed Fulani men and called on the Plateau State Police Command to investigate, arrest the perpetrators, and strengthen patrols and intelligence gathering. “We also urge the Plateau state and federal governments to move beyond routine assurances and implement concrete, sustained measures to protect lives and property,” BYM spokesman Rwang Tengwong said.

That evening, armed men attacked 18-year-old Charles Emmanuel between Tashek and Jol villages in Riyom LGA. The BYM said the attackers came from the Fass area and that Emmanuel was taken to Jos University Teaching Hospital, where he died. According to a local reporter, Emmanuel was returning home from work, and the herders used cattle as cover to approach Jol. The BYM urged security agencies to secure roads leading to vulnerable communities.

At the Nov. 4 burial, Mwantiri also alleged that the attackers in Plateau State, bandits in northwestern Nigeria and Boko Haram in the northeast were part of a single network operating under different names. He said the violence in Plateau was being described as a “herder-farmer clash” and alleged that the network aimed to take over the government and establish a radical regime. He linked the network to the killing of Sheikh Yahya Ibrahim Masussuka, who was assassinated by gunmen on Oct. 26 in Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State.

The Al-Qaeda affiliate Ansaru claimed responsibility for the killing. Masussuka had been honored as a peacemaker in May 2025 for championing interfaith dialogue.

Mwantiri also said the BYM would take lawful action against traditional rulers who signed land sale documents for Fulani buyers. He said the group would make an exception for law-abiding buyers.