The residents of Mushere in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State have decried protracted attacks on their community, leading to the sacking of nine villages and displacement of 15,000 residents by bandits.
President and Secretary of Mushere Youths Movement, Kopmut Monday Shedrack and Maichibi Haruna, made this known in a press conference in Jos yesterday.
The youth leaders in their brief asserted that, “We are here under grave circumstances, compelled by an urgent need to also bring international attention to a deteriorating security crisis in Plateau State, Nigeria, which poses an existential threat to the Mushere Nation and, by extension, to regional peace and stability.”
The youths noted that out of goodwill, the Mushere people generously provided land to Fulani settlers for grazing and farming without compensation, motivated by hopes of fostering harmony and shared prosperity. However, this goodwill was exploited and betrayed.
“Instead of peaceful coexistence, the Mushere community has suffered relentless breaches of trust, manifested in: Systematic theft of crops and farm produce, large-scale rustling of livestock, deliberate destruction of farmlands and food stores, appalling acts of sexual violence against our women and girls, abduction and kidnapping of our people for ransom, and indiscriminate killings of innocent men, women, and children.
“Villages such as Kadim, Njemut, Luwapan, Hokk, Dulu, Fokoldep, Nawala, and Kaban Communities in Southern Mushere — all of which have been overrun by terrorists, leaving indigenous inhabitants displaced and homeless.
“These actions reveal a calculated and ongoing strategy aimed at destabilising, terrorising, and dispossessing the Mushere people from their ancestral lands.”
“The scourge of kidnapping has inflicted profound trauma and insecurity on our people. Several prominent community leaders and innocent civilians have been targeted: Pa. Joshua Mutkut, Acting Miskakham (Traditional Ruler of Second Class Status) of Mushere, was abducted twice — first on June 11, 2023, and again on August 15, 2024 — each time released only after significant ransom payments. Mrs. Saratu Micah, kidnapped twice in Kopmur, was tragically murdered following ransom payments in April 2024 and again in 2025.
“A breastfeeding mother with an infant of two months was abducted in Mbar on April 29, 2024; although ransom was paid, the trauma endured by the victim and family is immeasurable”.
Reflecting on some of the most recent attacks, the youths said, “The murder of Rev. Mimang Lekyil on May 25, 2025, marked a tragic escalation of violence. Within 24 hours, approximately seven individuals were slaughtered in their sleep in Mbar on May 26, followed by the complete destruction of the village the following day by armed Fulani terrorists.
“This wave of terror did not end there. Subsequent days witnessed similar brutal attacks on Margif, Mbor, Nina, Nawala, Fogoldep, and other villages within the Mushere Chiefdom. Homes, churches, schools, and farmlands were systematically razed, resulting in an unprecedented level of destruction designed to erase our community physically and culturally.
“Government Secondary School, Hokk, was burnt down on the 15th July, 2025; animals rustled and scores of innocent people were killed the next day in the same village, including one Mrs. Marry Sylvester, leaving her husband behind in the pool of his blood with several gunshot wounds.
“In the early hours of Monday, 4th August 2025, a troop of armed Fulani terrorists launched a brutal invasion on the peace-loving villages of Kopmur and Morb at about 1am, where displaced residents had courageously returned to tend to their farms in a desperate bid to secure food for their starving families.
“The attackers unleashed unprovoked violence, leaving scores of villagers grievously injured, while Mrs. Rifkatu Ayuba tragically lost her life amidst the chaos.
“Undeterred, the assailants pressed on with their barbaric campaign the very next day, Tuesday, 5th August 2025 at about 2pm, targeting Margif Community. There, they burnt homes; raped women, destroyed cultivated farmlands, and launched a frenzied attack on innocent civilians.
“Approximately 12 individuals, including women and children, sustained varying degrees of gunshots and machete wounds as they fled for their lives. Disturbingly, these heinous acts occurred a mere few meters away from a military checkpoint at Horop Community, yet no intervention was made by the security personnel stationed there. The attackers were neither apprehended nor neutralised, casting a dark shadow of doubt over the efficacy and willingness of security forces to protect our people.
“On Wednesday, 6th August 2025 at about 4:30pm, the terrorists escalated their atrocities by invading Ndimar Community in Ik’ngwakap, the very heart and headquarters of Mushere Chiefdom. This daylight assault left numerous villagers dead, and saw the COCIN Church, alongside several homes, set ablaze. This chilling act of impunity underscores the alarming reality that our communities have become battlegrounds, where innocent lives are sacrificed daily.
The youths further appeals, “In light of the grave and escalating humanitarian crisis in Mushere Land, the Mushere Youth Movement makes a solemn and urgent appeal to the Federal Government for immediate deployment of additional security personnel to all vulnerable and affected Mushere communities is essential.
The Mushere Youth Movement appeals to humanitarian organisations, government agencies, and individuals of goodwill across Nigeria and beyond to urgently provide relief to the displaced and suffering. This includes emergency food supplies, temporary shelters, clean drinking water, and access to medical care. There is also an urgent need for trauma counselling and psychosocial support for survivors, particularly women and children.
“We also call for programs that will ensure the rehabilitation and reintegration of internally displaced persons back into their communities once peace and safety are restored”.
