Over 40 Killed in Overnight Attack on Plateau Community

At least 40 people have been killed after armed men stormed Zike community in the Kwall district of Bassa Local Government Area, Plateau State, in North-central Nigeria. The brutal assault began shortly after midnight on Monday, 14 April, and lasted nearly two hours, leaving dozens dead, homes in ruins, and survivors in mourning.

Joseph Chudu Yonkpa, National Publicity Secretary of the Irigwe Youth Movement (IYM), a local youth organisation, confirmed the incident to HumAngle. He said many of the injured are receiving treatment at the Jos University Teaching Hospital and other nearby medical facilities.

“There is outrage in the land at the moment,” Yonkpa told HumAngle.

IYM said hours before the attack, it had raised the alarm about a potential threat, alerting residents and security operatives stationed there. However, despite the warning, the gunmen were neither intercepted nor confronted during the assault. “The security people only showed up this morning,” he added.

HumAngle reached out to Alfred Alubo, the spokesperson of the Plateau State Police Command, for comment, but he did not respond.

Kwall, located about an hour’s drive from Jos, the Plateau State capital, is also home to the Nigerian College of Accountancy, an educational institution managed by the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria.

The community has faced a spate of violent incidents in recent weeks. Over the past month alone, at least ten people have been killed in separate attacks across Bassa, some while tending to their farms, others ambushed on the road. The pattern, residents say, is disturbingly familiar.

“They come at night, raid houses, and kill people,” said Ruth Ki, a security analyst who works with Beacon Security Intelligence and is indigenous of Bassa. “It is the same pattern of attacks.”

The Irigwe Youth Movement has long accused armed herders of carrying out these atrocities, citing a broader agenda to displace local populations and seize fertile land.

“The atrocities committed by these militias in Irigwe land extend beyond ambushes and killings,” Yonkpa said. “Their cattle graze freely on hectares of our irrigated farms, destroying crops with impunity. Entire families have been rendered jobless and hungry — their only means of livelihood wiped out.”

According to IYM records, the Irigwe ethnic group has suffered more than 2,866 attacks, at least 1,107 deaths, and the destruction of over 27,000 farms since the violence began in 2001. These numbers, they say, reflect a sustained campaign of terror against their people.

The massacre in Zike is the latest in a surge of violent episodes sweeping across Plateau State. In neighbouring Bokkos and Mangu Local Government Areas, youth leaders reported to HumAngle that over 40 people have been killed since March 27. Even top government officials are not spared; a convoy carrying the Secretary to the State Government, Samuel Jatau, was attacked during an official visit to Bokkos.

Governor Caleb Mutfwang has repeatedly condemned the killings, describing them as “genocidal” and motivated by land-grabbing. In a recent interview, he insisted the violence is not retaliatory but rather part of a deliberate campaign to uproot indigenous communities.

“There were no provocations or prior incidents to justify such violence. These attacks weren’t reprisals,” Mutfwang said. “I have no choice but to conclude that these are terrorist organisations deliberately targeting our people. The lands in question are very fertile, rich in food produce and mineral deposits.”

“We’ve observed a pattern over the years,” he added. “At the beginning of the farming season, communities are attacked and destabilised so they cannot plant. If they manage to farm, another wave of attacks occurs during harvest.”

Despite recent visits by Nigerian Army Chief of Staff, Olufemi Oluyede, and National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, who both pledged improved security, the killings have persisted.

“The forces don’t have the capacity to cover every inch of the region, so it is imperative for us to learn to live together in harmony,” Oluyede said. “The underlying factors have to be addressed.”