The death toll in coordinated attacks by militia of Fulani ethnicity on communities in Plateau State, central Nigeria between 24 and 25 December continues to rise, with numbers of fatalities ranging from 148 to 195, while around 300 people were injured and thousands displaced.

At least 25 communities in three local government areas (LGAs) were targeted. Survivors have described militia men descending on their communities in large numbers, killing indiscriminately and destroying homes, vehicles, farmlands and other property. Around 37 people who were unable to flee, mostly women, children and the disabled, were reportedly burnt to death in their homes. Eight churches and parsonages were burnt down, and among nine people who lost their lives in the NTA community in Majahota, Bokkos LGA was an Assemblies of God (AOG) church leader. Nine members of the Nasara Baptist Church were killed during the assault on the Dares community in Bokkos LGA, including the pastor and his wife.

Initial findings compiled shortly after the attacks by CSW Nigeria (CSWN) confirm the violence began at around 10pm on Christmas Eve with an assault on the Nisham community in Mangu LGA and continued into the early hours of Christmas Day with an attack on the Dares community in Bokkos LGA. ‘This concentrated period saw significant devastation and loss of lives and appeared to have been deliberately timed to disrupt the festive season. If sufficient security had not been drafted to the area, the attacks may have been even more extensive.’ The interim report also confirmed the deaths of 115 individuals in 16 of the affected communities and the displacement of some 10,000 people in violence which Plateau State governor, Caleb Mutfwang, has described as ‘pure terrorism.’

The recent attacks form part of a sustained period of violence and displacement which has continued throughout 2023 with varying degrees of severity, and which caused the federal House of Representatives to call in July for Nigeria’s National Security Advisor to declare a state of emergency over the killings in Plateau State.

During a visit to Plateau State in November, CSW interviewed survivors of earlier attacks on five districts in Mangu LGA.  At that time, according to CSWN’s findings, over 250 people had been killed, 25 churches burnt, and properties worth billions of Naira looted or destroyed in attacks on 54 villages. Several survivors insisted that the whereabouts of the militia are known, and alleged the existence of a camp housing over 5000 of them in Bakin Ladi: ‘the government knows but has done nothing about it yet.’

A similar assertion was made by Hon Peter Ibrahim Gyendeng of the Plateau State House of Representatives in an interview with Arise TV: ‘These people are coming from three villages; they meet, then attack and go back.’ He added that the militia are armed with ‘more sophisticated weapons than the security that are there to protect the people.’

Furthermore, The Middle Belt Forum (MBF) issued a statement identifying  the militia’s hideout from which they ‘launch their attacks on the States of Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba and Southern Kaduna’ as the Mahanga Forest on the border between Bokkos and Nasarawa State, asserting the authorities have known this ‘for decades, yet they have deliberately fortified this evil theatre from any destruction thus providing a safe haven for these terrorists to smuggle arms, train their mercenaries and unleash unimaginable terror on innocent citizens without any provocation whatsoever.’

In a statement issued on 28 December United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, expressed deep alarm at the series of attacks and called on the Nigerian authorities to conduct a prompt, independent investigation ‘consistent with international human rights law,’ and to hold perpetrators accountable ‘in fair trials. The cycle of impunity fuelling recurrent violence must be urgently broken.’

In addition,  the Muslim umbrella group Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) called for justice for the victims, stating that the attacks ‘appear to be well orchestrated with ulterior motives of setting the state in political and religious turmoil,’ and warned Nigeria would ‘become a failed state if acts of criminalities are not adequately penalised.’

Also on 28 December the Pushit community in Mangu LGA reportedly received an anonymous message stating it would be attacked on 29 December. Terrorists generally issue such warnings, and invariably follow through.

Mervyn Thomas, Founder President of CSW said: ‘We extend our deepest condolences to those bereaved in this appalling violence, which was timed to disrupt the festive season in predominantly Christian areas. The fact that such enormous loss of lives and property occurred before security forces responded in sufficient numbers is indicative of the lamentable ongoing failure of successive federal and state authorities to uphold the Nigerian Constitution by ensuring the security and welfare of citizens as their primary purpose. CSW concurs with High Commissioner Turk’s call for the cycle of impunity to be broken, and urges the Nigerian authorities, once again, to prioritise the pursuit, arrest, and prosecution of these terrorists, seeking international assistance when needed. It is also vital that members of the international community significantly increase their efforts to assist Nigeria in this endeavour, and to hold the authorities accountable for any failure to protect its citizens.’

NOTES TO EDITORS

1.         The eight churches that were destroyed were the Baptist Church in Dares, CAC Church in Mbong, COCIN Church in Maiyanga, COCIN Church in Ndun, COCIN Church in Tahore, CAC Church in Longhair, the COCIN Church in Ngha-buk, and the COCIN Church in Hurum.
2.         Targeted communities include Nisham village on the border between Mangu and Bokkos LGAs, Hurum, Darwat and NTV villages in Barkin Ladi LGA, and Maiyanga, Tahore, Tuje, Mutfet, Ngyong, Dares, Chirang, Fara, Butura, Yelwan Nono, Bodel and Butura Kampani villages in Bokkos LGA.
3.         A government gazette published in January 2022 designated armed non-state actors operating in northwest Nigeria, who previously were vaguely referred to as ‘armed bandits’, as ‘terrorists’, extending this designation to ‘other similar groups’ operating ‘in any part of Nigeria, especially in the North-West and North-Central Regions.’