Unchecked Killings Deepen Tensions in Bokkos, Plateau State

Unchecked Killings Deepen Tensions in Bokkos, Plateau State

By: Zagazola Makama

A disturbing pattern of targeted killings against members of the Fulani community in Bokkos and neighbouring parts of Plateau State is deepening distrust, inflaming ethnic tensions, and sustaining a cycle of deadly reprisals that security agencies appear unwilling or unable to break.

Recent incidents reveal an alarming consistency: no Fulani man or woman can pass through certain villages in Bokkos without facing attack, community leaders say. To many in these areas, every Fulani is presumed a terrorist, a dangerous stereotype that has led to repeated bloodshed and a collapse of trust between communities.

On Monday, another attack was reported in Barr community, Bokkos LGA, where two herders and nearly ten cows were killed. As with most incidents of this kind, no arrests have been made, and there has been no condemnation from Plateau State authorities.

On July 10, 2025, Usman Maguna, a Fulani man from Bokkos LGA, was reportedly attacked and killed while passing through Jebbu. Two days later, on July 12, a respected cleric, Malam Haruna Bangai, and his wife from Barkin Ladi were also killed in the same community.

According to Fulani leaders, a formal complaint was lodged to the police “They told us there was nothing they could do,” one community elder said. “When people are told this repeatedly, frustration builds and reprisals happen.”

Critics say the Plateau State Government, traditional rulers, and local media operate under a dangerous double standard: attacks on Fulani are ignored or downplayed, while reprisals are loudly condemned and labelled as terrorism.

Victims say the governor has never visited Fulani families after such killings, never paid compensation, and never openly condemned the violence allegedly to avoid being branded a “sellout” by his political base.

More troubling are claims that perpetrators arrested for killing Fulani are routinely released under political pressure. In one recent case, the governor was reportedly heard on television instructing security agencies to release suspects caught in acts of violence.

Authorities’ failures, selective justice, and political inaction are creating the perfect conditions for retaliation. Once an attack occurs, reprisals follow, leading to fresh casualties and further entrenching hostility.

When members of the Fulani community speak out about these attacks, they are often met with anger, and public debate quickly devolves into arguments over which side has lost more lives, a framing that obscures the real issue.

“This is not about comparing death tolls,” said a Fulani elder in Bokkos. “It’s about the state’s refusal to act when innocent lives are taken. That refusal is what fuels the violence.”

The picture that emerges from Bokkos is one of systemic neglect, silent complicity, and a conflict that is perpetuated by the very institutions meant to prevent it. The absence of justice for one community all but guarantees revenge attacks, a grim cycle that, without decisive and impartial intervention, will continue to claim lives on both sides.

Until the conspiracy of silence is broken, Plateau State’s leaders will have to answer an uncomfortable question: how many more will die before justice is allowed to work for all?

Unchecked Killings Deepen Tensions in Bokkos, Plateau State