No fewer than 27 people were killed on Monday night when gunmen suspected to be Fulani militias invaded Bindi community in the Ta-Hoss district of Riyom LGA, Plateau state.
Several others were injured and displaced as the assailants opened fire indiscriminately and set homes ablaze, forcing residents to flee into the night.
Chairman of Riyom LGA, Bature Shuwa, confirmed the incident but stated that he could not immediately provide the casualty figure, as he was en route to the affected area.
Dalyop Solomon, national president of the Berom Youth Moulders Association, said the gunmen stormed the community, conducted a house-to-house search and killed residents, including women, children, and the elderly.
“Twenty-seven persons were killed, and many were injured. We have taken the bodies to different hospitals before the burial,” Solomon said.
In a statement jointly signed by Gideon Manjal and Gadu Daniel Dong, chairman and publicity secretary of the Riyom chapter of the Coalition for the Protection of Democracy (COPDEM), the group said the attackers arrived when residents had retired for the night.
They said the gunmen were “heavily armed and properly identified by survivors as Fulani extremists.”
Part of the statement read: “Their mission was clearly to exterminate the people and take over their land.
“The attackers, who were properly identified as Fulani extremists by survivors, stormed the Bindi community in Ta-Hoss district of Riyom Local Government Area on Monday night and, in their regular pattern of attack which is consistent with several previous attacks across Riyom and other parts of Plateau, systematically slaughtered over 20 innocent people including women, children, and old people.
“This assault occurred despite the visible presence of security forces in and around the area, including armoured military assets. Homes were burned, families displaced and trauma deepened.”
The coalition accused security operatives of failing to act on intelligence about the location and operations of the armed groups.
“These attackers are not unknown. Their hideouts and base settlements in nearby enclaves have been repeatedly identified and reported by community leaders and local authorities. Yet, year after year, these known threats continue to strike with impunity, often unchallenged.
“This recurring violence points not only to a failure of protection but raises grave questions about inaction, negligence, and systemic compromise,” they said.
The group called on President Bola Tinubu, the Plateau State government, and security agencies to launch a high-level military operation to dismantle the terrorist enclaves and declare a state of emergency in the affected areas.
They also demanded humanitarian relief, trauma counselling, and reconstruction efforts.
