Renewed violence has hit Plateau State, claiming the lives of a father and his two sons in a bandit attack on Zogu village, Miango, in the Bassa Local Government Area.
This latest incident occurred just a week after a similar attack in Bokkos villages resulted in over 50 deaths, prompting calls for concerted efforts to end the bloodshed. The attack on Weyi Gebeh, 56, and his sons, Zhu Weyi, 25, and Henry Weyi, 16, has brought the death toll to nine this week alone, sparking outrage and demands for justice from community leaders and civil society organizations.
The incident coincided with a call by the Middle Belt Ethnic Nationalities and coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on the government and security agencies to end the spate of Killings across the state.
Governor Caleb Mutfwang, vowed during the visits he paid to some of the affected communities yesterday to bring the killings to an end.
National Publicity Secretary of Irigwe Development Association(IDA) (IDA), Sam Jugo, said in a statement that 56 years old Weyi Gebeh and his two sons, Zhu Weyi, 25, and Henry Weyi, 16, were killed when the bandits invaded the community early Friday morning.
The statement said: “This recent event brings to nine the deaths recorded this week alone.
“IDA expresses its utmost displeasure on the deteriorating situation in Irigwe land and calls on the security agencies to do whatever is required to halt this barbarism on our land and perpetrators apprehended to face justice.”
The community leader expressed dismay at “the way criminal elements invade our motherland and kill with impunity,” saying it seemed to suggest a more sinister motive than mere reprisal for alleged wrongs.
“IDA therefore calls on the Plateau State Government and the security to do the needful and stop the killing of innocent people in Irigwe land,” the statement added.
The leadership of Middle Belt Ethnic Nationalities in Jos and the coalition of CSOs also called for concerted efforts to end the incessant bloodbath on the Plateau.
Addressing reporters in separate briefings at the NUJ Press Centre in Jos, the two groups said it had become obvious that the perpetrators of these dastardly acts were out to cleanse the entire ethnic groups in the state.
The CSO coalition also called for Justice, protection and global support to end the killings and prevent the indigenous communities from total annihilation.
Chairman, Plateau State Civil Society Organization Forum, Rev. Chris Damcher, and representative of the Middle Belt Ethnic Nationalities, Prof Abraham Dogo, who both spoke at the press briefings, expressed anger at what they described as attempts to totally annihilate all the ethnic groups on the Plateau.
Dogo said: “On Wednesday, April 2nd, 2025, our peace-loving and hardworking farmers in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State were once again attacked in a senseless and brutal massacre.
“These innocent and defenceless citizens were mercilessly killed by suspected armed and deadly herders/terrorists — agents of destruction who have no regard for human life, law, or peaceful coexistence.
“We demand justice. We demand protection. We demand peace.
“We stand today in grief, but not in defeat. We will continue to raise our voices until the lives of every Nigerian, regardless of tribe or faith, are valued and protected.”
On his part, the chairman of the CSOs coalition said: “We stand with the communities in Bokkos and pray that soon and very soon they will return to their communities with the setting in of the rains tor the farming season.
“We pray for the reign of peace in our dear state as we declare that enough of the bloodshed and bloodletting in Plateau State.
