The conflict started at 2:00 AM local time on 15 May 2023, when huge numbers of Fulani gunmen attacked and burned multiple villages, including Kubwat and Fungzai where 28 and 9 people were reportedly killed, respectively.
Women and children were said to be among the dead. Houses and crops were set ablaze as assailants attacked villagers using guns and machetes.
2023 Mangu violence
From 15 to 16 May 2023 over one hundred people were killed in an attack by Fulani herders against villagers in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria.
2023 Mangu violencePart of Herder-farmer conflicts in NigeriaLocationMangu LGA, Plateau State, NigeriaDateMay 15-16, 2023Deaths200+ civilians killed (per local activists)
130+ civilians killed (per government officials and Christian Association of Nigeria) Perpetrator: Fulani herdsmen
Fighting between (mostly Christians) farmers and Fulani herders in Central and North-West Nigeria over access to resources has been going on for several decades. Most of the violence takes place in the form of attacks on villages by Fulani herders, sometimes as reprisals for attacks by anti-Fulani vigilantes.
The government response to the conflict has been largely inefficient and few arrests have been made. In recent years the security crisis has grown worse as the death toll increases and violence becomes more common.
Prior to the conflict a farmer had let his cattle destroy a Fulani man’s banana plantation which locals claimed was the trigger for the attack.
The conflict started at 2:00 AM local time on 15 May 2023, when huge numbers of Fulani gunmen attacked and burned multiple villages, including Kubwat and Fungzai where 28 and 9 people were reportedly killed, respectively.
Women and children were said to be among the dead. Houses and crops were set ablaze as assailants attacked villagers using guns and machetes.
The Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, condemned the massacre and promised to arrest the perpetrators. The local government declared a 24-hour curfew, but locals criticized the curfew as ineffective.
On 18 May local authorities told the Associated Press at least 80 people had died, and that they had arrested at least 7 suspects.
On 17 May, House of Representatives member for Mangu LGA Solomon Maren said that “over 100 persons, most of them women and children” had died over the past two days and that widespread destruction of homes and crops had occurred. Maren criticized the Buhari administration for failing to prevent such attacks.
On 22 May, the Christian Association of Nigeria said that over the past week “about 130 people were killed, about 1,000 buildings burnt, and about 22 villages affected.” Archbishop and president of the CAN Daniel Okoh deplored the massacre and called for an end to the violence.
Activist Joseph Gwankat, head of the Mwaghavul Development Association, estimated the death toll to be more than 200, adding that 20,000 people are believed to have been displaced. The fighting also cut off access to certain villages. Gwankat said that at least 125 bodies had been buried.
On 21 May, Fulani militias passed by the town of Daika in Panyam District on motorcycles. The militants opened fire on a group of young men, killing four.[10]
On 25 May, church leaders led a group of around 250 protesters in Jos, urging the government to take action.
The Plateau State governor, Caleb Mutfwang, has revealed that no fewer than 150 people have been killed in the Mangu Local Government Area of the state.
SaharaReporters had in May reported that Mangu local government area of Plateau State was sacked by armed Fulani herdsmen who invaded 32 communities, forcing nine Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Camps to spring up.
Community sources had also told SaharaReporters that 200 people were killed between Monday May 15 and Wednesday May 17, 2023 with millions of properties destroyed including several houses.
Speaking on Channels Television’s programme, Governor Mutfwang lamented the increase in attacks in the state in recent weeks.
“Last night four people were killed in Mangu. Conservatively, I will put it that in the last three weeks, we have buried not less than 150 people in Mangu local government.
“And as I am talking to you we have no less than 30,000 scattered in various IDP camps that we are having to deal with now,” Mutfwang said.
Asked what he thinks the problem really is, the governor said it is fundamentally a breakdown of trust in both inter-communities and intra-communities which opened the flanks for non-state actors.
He said a new pattern has emerged whereby “80 percent of the situation is pure genocide simplicita against the people of Plateau”.
The governor, who paid a visit to President Bola Tinubu, expressed confidence that the Nigerian leader is determined to deal with the situation.
“I had the privilege and honour to have a meeting with Mr President at a very short notice. The meeting centered around the challenges of security in the Plateau and I found Mr President full of listening ears, full of determination to deal with the issues and I think it is going to be a welcome change.
“The response of Mr President is reassuring, his understanding of the problem was quite comforting, and certainly Mr President is showing that he has a political will to deal with the issues.
“He is about to rejig the security architecture in the country and I am sure he going to come with a new vigour, with a new sense of patriotism and nationalism that I am sure we will be able to have some respite at the end of the day,” the governor stated.
12 killed in fresh attacks on Plateau communities
9th July 2023
Residents of Farinkasa Kerana and Sabon Gari communities in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State were on Sunday thrown into mourning following fresh attacks by gunmen which left 12 persons dead
A grieving resident, Mathew Habila, who confirmed the incidents to The PUNCH in Jos on Sunday said the victims were killed in their houses.
He lamented that the gunmen also set many houses on fire leaving the two communities deserted.
Habila said ” We have our people killed again in another attack last night. This time,12 People were killed with several others injured, and many houses were burned by Fulani Militia at Farinkasa Kerana and Sabon gari communities in Mangu Districts of Mangu Local government.
“The incidents happened at about 10:30 pm 08/07/2023”
Efforts to get the Police Public Relations Officer in the State, Alabo Alfred to comment on the incidents proved abortive as his phone lines were switched off when contacted by our correspondent.
Meanwhile, kinsmen of Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau state under the aegis of the Mwaghavul Development Association have renewed calls for the federal government to declare the Miyeti Allah Cattle breeders association as a terrorist organisation.
Making the call at a press conference in Jos shortly before the latest attacks, the National President of MDA, Chief Joseph Gwankat noted that since April 2023, members of MACBAN had attacked 53 communities and killed 204 persons in Mangu LGA, where the state Governor hails from.
He said, “It is in the public domain that MACBAN has been hiring foreign mercenaries to attack communities, including ours.
“Our villages have been deserted due to these attacks and have become grazing fields for the Fulani herders. So far, a total of 204 of our people have been killed in 53 attacks carried out by them
“We, therefore, strongly suggest that the Federal Government should declare MACBAN a terrorist organisation because of the heinous crimes that its members are perpetrating in various parts of Nigeria.
“We urge the Government to take full responsibility for educating children below the age of 10 who have lost both parents as a result of the attacks, while arrangements are made for the SS3 students whose WAEC Exams were disrupted as a result of these attacks”
September 12, 2023
10 killed in Plateau village Sunday night attack
Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, have attacked Kulben community, Kombun District, Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State, killing 10 persons, while an unspecified number of people were injured and property destroyed.
The incident happened on a Sunday night and some of the victims were attacked guarding the community.
A resident, Nanret Ishaya, told Vanguard: “Armed Fulani militia attacked Kulben village about 10p.m., on Sunday. Ten people were killed, others injured and property destroyed. Arrangement is on for a mass burial for the victims.”
Efforts to speak with the Media Officer of Operation Safe Haven, Captain James Oya, were unsuccessful at press time, as he didn’t pick up his calls but the spokesman of the state Police Command, Alfred Alabo confirmed the incident.
He said: “We are aware that something happened last Sunday night. The DPO has been working since 2a.m. and we are awaiting his report at the headquarters.”
Meanwhile, Chairman of Mwaghavul Development Association in Kombun District, Dr. Elisha, who also confirmed the attack, said: “From the information I got, 10 persons were killed during the invasion. I’m on my way to the village.”
Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists on November 30, killed seven Christians in attacks on two villages in Plateau state, Nigeria, sources said.
The assailants attacked Puka and Dinter villages in Mangu County at about 1 a.m., said Yohanna Markus of Puka.
“Fulani herdsmen together with a group of bandits attacked two of our villages, Puka and Dinter, where they killed seven of our Christian villagers,” Markus told Morning Star News in a text message. “Aside from those killed, who include five men and a woman, many other Christians were injured and are currently being treated for gunshot wounds and machete cuts.”
After midnight on Wednesday (November 29), a pastor and two other Christians were kidnapped in predominantly Christian Raddi village, Bassa County, a resident said in a text message.
“At about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, bandits attacked Raddi, our village and kidnapped three Christian victims,” resident Ezekiel Gideon told Morning Star News. “Christians kidnapped by the terrorists are Pastor Bala, 50; Keziya Ayuba, 50; and Sunday Ayuba, 40.”
On Nov. 15 in Bokkos County, a Christian was killed in Hilltop, a suburb of Bokkos town, said resident Timothy Joseph.
“At about 7 p.m., Fulani herdsmen attacked Hilltop area of Bokkos and killed one Christian,” Joseph said in a text message. “One other Christian was injured during the incident.”
