Bandits have reportedly overrun and taken over a village in Mushere Chiefdom situated in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State and sacked the residents from the community.
The dare devil attackers have also changed the identity of the community by renaming the village just as they converted the local church into a mosque after forcing the villagers to flee.
Expectedly, the unfortunate incident has left many families displaced and without access to their farmlands and homes.
One of the community leaders, Mr Amos Gyang disclosed these while speaking at a charity event organised by the Plateau Unite Foundation in Jos.
Gyang explained that the attack came as a serious shock to the people who have been living peacefefully with Fulani settlers in the area for years.
The community leader further said that the bandits stormed the village without any warning sign and killed more than 10 residents before taking full control pf the village.
Gyang also said that many of the survivors are now scattered across displacement camps, struggling to survive in poor conditions, adding that some families have been forced into begging in order to feed their children.
Gyang said the attackers also seized homes, farms, and animals after pushing the inhabitants out of the village.
According to Gyang; “The renaming of community and the conversion of the Church symbolised a complete takeover of our ancestral land.
“We were living in peace, going about our businesses, because most of our people are farmers. But, in September of 2025, we experienced the worst when Fulani bandits suddenly attacked our village,” he explained.
Gyang said that before the attack, the people cohabited peacefully as they did not have any issue between them, adding that some of the Fulani people had lived with them harmoniously for several years and even spoke the local language.
“Some of them had lived with us for several years and even spoke our language. We took them as our brothers, not knowing that they had bad plans for us.
“Those terrorists who attacked our village were armed with deadly weapons and killed over 10 people while forcing everyone to flee for safety. They took over our land, farms, livestock, and most painfully, changed the name of the village and turned our Church into a mosque.
“As I stand here before you, many of our people are living In IDP camps facing horrendous conditions while our fertile land is being occupied by the Fulani. We have now become beggars just to feed our families.
“We have called on the government several times to come to our aid but all our pleas have fallen on deaf ears because we do not have anyone to fight for us, but we believe that one day, our prayers will be answered and we will go back to our ancestral land.”
Gyang called for stronger security presence in the area to prevent further attacks and particularly appealed to the State and Federal Governments to intervene and restore the community to the rightful owners.
