The government of Plateau State under the leadership of Governor Caleb Mutfwang has convened an expanded state security council meeting on Monday to address the escalating insecurity in the area after tragic attacks on Zikke and Kimakpa communities in the Bassa Local Government Area (LGA).
The meeting was held at the Council Chamber of the Government House in Jos where deliberations on the security situation, especially the disturbing resurgence of attacks in Bassa and Bokkos LGAs with decisive measures aimed at restoring peace and preventing further bloodshed across the state.
The governor said over 100 militiamen invaded the affected communities to maul innocent residents on Monday morning.
“We are on top of the situation and will go to any length to forestall a recurrence,” the governor assured the people of the state.
The death toll in Monday’s attack hit 51, with several houses razed. Mutfwang said he would provide more information surrounding the attack during a broadcast on Tuesday, April 15, 2025.
According to reports from Channels, the attackers invaded the village in the early hours of Monday and shot sporadically at residents who were scampering for safety after hearing gunshots.
The community leader had reported that a team of vigilantes, including himself and some security personnel, were on patrol in another community when the attackers invaded the village and started shooting.
Though the security personnel engaged the invaders and succeeded in repelling the attackers, the damage had been done, with about thirty-six persons shot dead and four others dying later.
Some other residents sustained gunshot wounds and are receiving medical attention at the hospital.
Security agencies in the state are yet to comment on the attack, which is coming less than two weeks after 52 persons were killed in some communities of the Bokkos Local Government Area of the North-Central state.
Plateau State has unfortunately been a hotbed for killings with numbers losing their lives yearly with the offenders and reasons for the killings still yet to be ascertained.
The Governor of the state had previously stated that the killings are sponsored by Genocidal terrorists for reasons best known to them.
The Federal Government has been talking tough following the recent wave of attacks, vowing to flush out the assailants. The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, also “ordered the immediate and comprehensive deployment of police tactical assets to the affected areas of the state”.
However, the unfortunate killings in the state have left many in despair with no respite in sight.
