Plateau Crisis: Bandits Attack, Allegedly Renames Over 60 Communities

According to a report, investigations conducted by some news outlets have shown that at least 64 communities in Plateau state have been invaded and occupied by terrorists, some of which have been renamed after the original residents were forced out. 

This is in contrast to the assertion made by National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu that no region of the nation is under terrorist control.

Similar circumstances exist in nearby Benue State, where displaced indigenous people are still wallowing in internally displaced persons’ camps and two-thirds of the communities are currently ruled by foreign invaders. Additionally, farmers have been driven from their ancestral houses.

Recall that the Berom tribe, which is primarily located in the Barkin Ladi, Jos North, Jos South, and Riyom Local Government Areas in Plateau State, raised concerns about invasions and the eviction of the native population by unfamiliar faces working with some well-known individuals during the administrations of former Governors Jonah Jang (2007–2015) and Simon Lalong (2015–2023).

As the raids eventually spread to the Irigwe Chiefdom in the state’s Bassa Local Government Area, they noted that although the rebels had occasionally changed the names of the communities they had taken, many residents questioned and trivialised the allegation.

Recall also that former Governor Jang; former Senator, Plateau North Senatorial Zone (where the affected LGAs are located), Istifanus Gyang; the Gbong Gwom Jos, Da Jacob Buba; the Berom Educational and Cultural Organisation, BECO; and the Irigwe people in the Bassa Local Government Area, among others, consistently appealed to the Federal Government to tackle land occupation by foreign herders, but all entreaties were ignored.

According to a 2018 document that the media was able to secure from BECO, the invaders had taken control of more than 54 settlements. However, Dara Gyang Dudu, the current president of BECO, informed Saturday Vanguard that there are already 64 sacked villages in the Berom area alone.

The 2018 document listed some of the affected communities to include “Rotchun (aka Rafin Acha); Dankum (renamed ‘Mahanga’); Hywa (renamed ‘Lugere’); Fass (renamed ‘Tafawa’); Davwak; Chwelnyap; Lyoho Dakar; and Angwan Dalyop, which were all attacked Between September 7 and 10, 2001, with the original inhabitants displaced.”