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• Mutfwang seeks calm, PDP demands security emergency
• ADC condemns killings, women protest
From Jude Dangwam, and Jude Owuamanam, Jos
A mass burial was held for the 24 indegens of Bin Mper community in Mangu local government, who were killed in fresh attack by gunmen between Sunday and Monday.
Women and youths of the community protested as the remains of their kinsmen were lowered into the grave.
At least 24 people were killed in a fresh attack on Bin Mper community in Kombun District of Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State, sparking widespread outrage, a protest by women in the affected community and renewed demands for stronger security measures across the state.
The attack, which occurred between late Monday and the early hours of yesterday, has heightened fears of renewed violence in vulnerable communities in Mangu, with the victims subsequently given a mass burial.
Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang condemned the attack and appealed to residents to remain calm and resist any attempt at reprisal, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the state, Chief Kefas Wungak Ropshik, demanded the declaration of a state of emergency on security.
The Action Democratic Congress (ADC) also condemned the killings, describing the attack as barbaric, senseless and unacceptable and calling for immediate action to protect vulnerable communities and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Government, in a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Joyce Lohya Ramnap, described the attack as disturbing and a threat to the peace and security being consolidated across the state.
Mutfwang sympathised with the affected families and residents and directed security agencies to intensify surveillance and patrols in Bin Mper, Kombun District and other vulnerable communities in Mangu LGA.
He also urged residents to provide credible and timely information that could assist security agencies in identifying and apprehending those responsible.
But residents and youths in the affected communities accused both the state and federal governments of failing to protect them, despite the presence of security personnel in the area.
The Mwaghavul Youth Movement (MYM), in a statement by its Director of Public Affairs, Tubwot Joël Sunday, on behalf of its President, Kyesmang Jonathan Yusuf, said it was deeply angered by the attack and the repeated killings in Mangu.
The youths said the Bin Mper attack, in which 24 people were killed and several others injured, exposed what they described as the failure of the existing security architecture to protect vulnerable communities.
They said homes were reportedly set ablaze and crops destroyed, warning that the attacks were no longer merely about loss of lives but were threatening the livelihoods and future of the entire community.
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According to the group, the casualties would have been significantly higher but for the courage, vigilance and intervention of youths who stood guard over their communities.
The MYM, however, warned against allowing community self-defence to become a substitute for effective government security.
“We strongly reject the idea that community self-defence should become a substitute for a functional security system,” the youths said, stressing that young people should be in schools, farms and businesses rather than permanently stationed at community guard posts because the government had failed to provide adequate protection.
The group demanded a transparent investigation into the Bin Mper attack and other attacks across Mangu and Plateau State, including the circumstances surrounding the security response before, during and after the latest incident.
It also called for the identification, arrest and prosecution of those responsible for the killings and destruction, while urging Governor Mutfwang and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently reassess the security situation across vulnerable communities and take concrete steps to prevent further attacks.
The youths’ accusation came as political and community pressure mounted on the Mutfwang administration following the latest killings.
But Ropshik said the latest attack showed that the state’s security situation required more than condolences and routine responses.
He described the killings as another massacre coming on the heels of attacks in communities including Rim, Wereng, Mawuri and Yelwa.
“The frequency, ferocity and sheer impunity with which these attacks are being perpetrated have become intolerable. Enough is enough,” he said. Ropshik called on Mutfwang to declare a state of emergency on security and immediately convene an emergency security summit involving service chiefs, heads of security and intelligence agencies, local government chairmen, traditional rulers, community leaders and other critical stakeholders.
He advocated a unified command structure, improved intelligence gathering, stronger surveillance, rapid response and better equipment for security personnel.
He also called for the strengthening of Operation Rainbow, saying it should form part of a robust, intelligence-driven security architecture capable of preventing attacks rather than merely responding to them.
Ropshik further urged the government to explore all lawful and constitutionally permissible options, including specialised external expertise where necessary, to identify and apprehend perpetrators.
“Those who murder our people must understand that there will be no sanctuary, no impunity and no escape,” he said.
He also urged local government chairmen to suspend non-essential expenditure and redirect available resources towards local security, particularly community-based vigilance and early-warning mechanisms.
