Gunmen attacked a grazing area in Aloghom, Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State on Saturday. At least three herders were killed and 50 cattle were shot dead. Some herders remain missing. The victims were Garzali Shaibu, 18, Bashiru Yakubu, 14, and Salim Abubakar, 15. A day earlier, attackers killed a herder, Yakubu Ishaku, and 18 cattle in Nyerwe, Barkin Ladi Local Government Area.
Plateau State has been a flashpoint for farmer-herder violence for over two decades. The 2001 Jos riots, the 2010 Barkin Ladi massacres and the 2018 killings in Riyom and Bassa all followed a similar pattern: competing land claims, political manipulation and weak security response. Each cycle of violence deepens the distrust between communities and entrenches the cycle of retaliation.
Ibrahim Babayo, the Plateau State chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), confirmed the attacks. He said the herders were tending their cattle when the raiders opened fire. He alleged the attacks form a deliberate attempt to target Fulani herders and destroy their means of livelihood. MACBAN said it alerted the Department of State Services and Operation Safe Haven, the military-led security outfit in Plateau. Hashimu Yahaya, coordinator of the Fulbe Fulani Development Association in Mangu, described the attack as brutal and unprovoked.
The circumstances remain unclear. The identities of the attackers and the motive for the killings could not be independently established. Attempts to reach Operation Safe Haven for an official account were unsuccessful at the time of filing. The silence is familiar. It leaves room for competing narratives, each hardening the position of the community that holds it. Babayo urged herding communities to remain calm and resist retaliation, a plea that acknowledges how easily the situation could escalate.
The economic dimension is often overlooked. Cattle represent a herder’s entire savings, insurance and inheritance. Shooting 50 cattle is not collateral damage. It is the destruction of a family’s capital. The herders who survived lost their livelihoods in a single morning.
Winners: The attackers, who face no immediate arrest. Those who benefit politically from a climate of insecurity and displacement. Losers: The three dead herders and their families. The herders still missing. MACBAN, which is forced to plead for calm while its members are killed. Plateau State’s fragile peace, which erodes with each attack. The local economy, which loses livestock capital.
Bottom Line: Three teenagers and 50 cattle were killed on a Saturday morning. The attackers are unnamed, the motive unconfirmed. The pattern is Plateau’s tragedy. The response is Plateau’s failure.