A group under the auspices of the Berom Diaspora Coalition, BDC, has called on the Nigerian government to declare the Mahanga in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State a terrorist enclave, describing the community as a major stronghold for armed Fulani bandits and terrorists where they come out from to attack villages and retreat to at the end of each attack.
The BDC, in conjunction with other groups like the Berom Educational and Cultural Organization, BECO, Berom Youth-Moulders Association, BYM, the Berom Women Development Association, BEWDA, among others, made the call during a press conference in Jos on Tuesday.
They also urged the government and other relevant authorities to take urgent actions to reclaim displaced ancestral lands and resettle affected communities in the state.
While addressing the press conference with the theme: “Reclaiming Our Lost Ancestral Lands and Resettlement of Our People,” Barry Barnabas Dazih, who represented the BDC, called on the federal and state governments, as well as security agencies to urgently halt violence and killings in the state and do everything possible to reclaim ancestral lands currently being occupied by terrorists after chasing the indigenes away.
Dazih noted with dismay that available records have shown that more than 500 people have been killed between November 2025 and April 2026, with many others injured, displaced, or rendered homeless.
According to the BDC representative, entire communities across Barkin Ladi, Riyom, Jos South, Bokkos, Bassa, and even Jos North Local Government Areas have come under sustained attacks, with a specific reference to the March 29 incident in Angwan Rukuba, which claimed about 30 lives, citing it as evidence that violence has now reached the heart of the state capital.
The coalition alleged that armed Fulani militant elements are carrying out the attacks, describing the pattern of violence as coordinated and persistent.
“From records at our disposal, over 70 Berom villages have been displaced, with some allegedly occupied by the attackers, thereby deepening the humanitarian crisis and increasing the number of widows, orphans, and vulnerable persons,” Dazih said.
Beyond the loss of lives, the coalition lamented widespread destruction of farmlands which it said “is the economic backbone of the affected communities, as well as restricted access to mining sites, accusing the attackers of deliberately targeting livelihoods, thereby compounding poverty and displacement.
“Between November 2025 and April 2026, over 500 people have been brutally killed, some maimed, while houses and farmlands worth millions of naira were destroyed without provocation.”
Describing the attacks as a script from a horror movie, Dazih said innocent residents in the affected communities now live in fear, not knowing where the next attack will come from as Plateau State is currently witnessing a renewed spike in violent attacks and destruction of lives and property.
While lamenting the delay in resettling displaced persons, the group called on the government to mandate committees set up to facilitate the return of internally displaced persons, thereby expediting actions to produce meaningful results.
The coalition further raised concerns over what it described as the failure of security agencies to act on credible intelligence provided by locals.
