Plateau State in 2023: Attacks, Deaths and Possible Reasons

2023 was a year of constant sadness and tragedy for Plateau State because the state was plagued with killings and attacks by gunmen, with such events happening so frequently that one could no longer be shocked at their occurrence but could only pray that a miracle end them. 

The most recent attack, and perhaps the most deadly, was the one that happened on Christmas eve, around 10 pm in the Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Bokkos and Barikin Ladi where over 115 people were killed following the attacks by gunmen. Just earlier in the month, on the 10th of December, 4 people were killed by gunmen in the community of Mangu in Jos, and if you trace it backwards to the start of the year 2023, you’ll be deeply saddened to know that people were attacked and killed on a monthly basis in communities in Plateau State, most especially in the LGAs of Bokkos, Mangu and Barikin Ladi. 

Because of the limitation of space, all of the instances of these attacks cannot be put down, but in the past year, the death toll from the attacks was estimated to the figure of 195. 

Plateau was a slaughter-house during the year 2023 and it appears as if the murderers have the upper-hand in this fight against insecurity, rather than the security forces of the country who are supposed to be equipped to tackle and quell all sorts of insecurity issues within Nigeria. The Nigerian Army is reportedly the fourth most powerful military force in Africa. So, what is the problem? Why is that the promises of the government to bring the perpetrators to book continue to go unfulfilled?

Different reasons have been cited by different sources, but the ones that stood out are the ‘porosity of our borders’, ‘corruption of government officials’, and the ‘uncontrolled circulation of arms by smugglers into the country.’

Porous borders means that insurgents that carry out these attacks enter the country freely to wreck havoc. Smuggled arms means unchecked supplies of ammunition continue to be at the disposal of the criminals that wield them to attack citizens and corruption reminds us that there are officials in the government that do not care about the well-being of the people they claim to serve and do nothing to improve the welfare and safety of the masses.

The exact causes of the prevalent insecurity issues in Nigeria are still unclear, but one can only hope and pray that one day, the perpetrators of this evil are brought to book and that peace will once more be restored to our land.