Group Warns of Terror Threat to Plateau

The Bokkos Cultural Development Forum (BCDF Vanguard) has sounded a strong warning over what it describes as an unfolding plan by terrorists and armed Fulani militia to seize control of Plateau State.

In a statement issued after an emergency meeting in Jos on Friday, the group said the relentless assaults on communities — particularly in Bokkos, Mangu, Riyom, and Bassa over the past four months — suggest a coordinated agenda to capture key agricultural hubs in the state.

According to BCDF Vanguard, the attackers are now operating with impunity, patrolling occupied villages and shooting civilians and even security personnel on sight. Without urgent, decisive action from government and security agencies, the group warned, it may be only a matter of time before the entire state falls under their control.

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The statement, signed by Chairman Barr. Farmasum Fuddang and Secretary Amb. Duwam Bosco, recalled that over 50 people were massacred in Hurti village, Manguna district, in April alone. Since then, more than 100 additional lives have been lost in Bokkos, with properties worth millions of dollars destroyed — including vast farmlands.

“Bokkos sits on the border between Plateau and Nasarawa States,” the group said. “Its survival is the last barrier preventing armed groups from the northwest and northeast from completely overrunning Plateau State.”

Recent attacks have left at least two dead and over 15 injured in the Mushere district within just four days, affecting communities such as Dimar, Hokk, Margif, Kopmur, Nina, Ikgngwaghap, and Fokholdep. More than ten villages have been abandoned, their homes looted and destroyed, while thousands of acres of crops — including corn, potatoes, and sugar cane nearing harvest — have been wiped out.

The BCDF Vanguard alleged that the attackers’ goal is to keep striking until communities are either eliminated or forced to flee, allowing for a total takeover. It warned that such a development would open new safe havens for insurgents fleeing intensified military operations in other parts of the country, enabling them to spread into neighboring Mangu, Barkin Ladi, and Riyom.

Some towns, the statement noted, have already been transformed into no-go zones for Christian natives. Lukfai, along the road to Bokkos, was displaced in a similar fashion in 2015, with abandoned Berom, Mwagavul, and Ron homes now fully occupied.

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The group criticized both state and federal authorities for failing to stop the land grabs and ethnic displacement. It also raised concern that volunteer civilian guards trying to defend their communities are being outmatched by both insurgents and certain military forces, leaving residents increasingly vulnerable.

The BCDF Vanguard urged Governor Caleb Mutfwang to take immediate action through the newly formed land use committee to halt what it called “criminality and gross rights violations.” It also called for the creation of a joint civilian task force — similar to models used in the northwest and northeast — to work alongside the military in coordinated community defense.