A JOINT PRESS STATEMENT OF THE AFIZERE, ANAGUTA, ATAKAR, ATTEN, BEROM, IRIGWE, KUNLERE, MUSHERE, MWAGAVWUL, PAN, AND RON YOUTH ASSOCIATIONS IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE COALITION OF PLATEAU STATE INDIGENOUS YOUTH BODIES ON THE DISTRACTIVE STRATEGY FOR CONTINUED TERRORISM AND BANDITRY, FICTITIOUS CLAIMS, AND FALSE ALARMS BY FULANI OCCUPIERS OF GRABBED LANDS AT KWAK (“RUGA AJALO”), ROPP DISTRICT, BARKIN LADI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF PLATEAU STATE, HELD AT THE NIGERIAN UNION OF JOURNALISTS (NUJ), JOS, ON 15TH JULY, 2026.
Protocols.
Gentlemen of the Press, we address you today with hearts weighed down by grief, yet strengthened by an unwavering resolve to speak the truth about the tragic reality confronting our people.
For far too long, the indigenous peoples of Plateau State and, indeed, other law-abiding citizens have borne the unbearable burden of relentless terror. Our communities have become theatres of bloodshed; our ancestral lands have been violently invaded; our villages reduced to desolation; our farms abandoned; our economic life strangulated; and thousands of our people condemned to lives of displacement, fear and uncertainty. Generations that ought to be building prosperity have, instead, buried loved ones, fled from their ancestral homes, and struggled merely to survive elsewhere.
The tragedy of Plateau is no longer an isolated security concern. It has become a protracted humanitarian catastrophe and a profound moral challenge to our collective conscience.
Despite numerous interventions by successive governments and security agencies, the killings have persisted with frightening regularity, creating the disturbing impression of an adversary that continuously mutates its methods, adapts its tactics and exploits every available opportunity. This is the hydra-headed challenge that has continued to test the resolve of both the government and the Nigerian people.
It is for this reason that Nigerians have consistently demanded greater professionalism, intelligence gathering, inter-agency synergy, strategic deployment and decisive action from our security institutions. Terrorism cannot be defeated by routine responses alone. It requires superior intelligence, operational dominance, sustained pressure and an uncompromising determination to deny criminal elements every opportunity to regroup or expand their campaign of terror.
Against this backdrop, the deployment of a Department of State Services (DSS) operational camp in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area in May 2026 was received with widespread relief by law-abiding citizens and the bona fide indigenous communities of the area. For a people who have lived under the shadow of incessant attacks and rain of terror, it represented more than a security deployment; it symbolised renewed hope.
Barely days after the camp became operational, on 1st June 2026, it reportedly came under attack by Fulani militants, bandits and other terrorist networks. The attack was successfully repelled by the DSS, demonstrating commendable professionalism, preparedness and operational capability in confronting forces that have for years unleashed violence upon innocent communities.
It is worthy of mention that, prior to the deployment, rain of terror attacks on hamlets, villages and communities had become almost habitual, with no fewer than 200 persons reportedly killed within the last 5 months around the axis, while countless others fled their ancestral homes. Commendably, the impact of the deployment became increasingly evident; communities that had become accustomed to nightly terror began to experience a measure of relief. The sustained intelligence-driven operations of the DSS significantly reduced the frequency of attacks and rekindled hope that peace could gradually return to communities long abandoned to fear.
Indeed, apart from the unfortunate incident at Sabon Layi in Barkin Ladi town on the 4th of July. 2026 in which three vigilante operatives lost their lives, the period witnessed an appreciable decline in major attacks, validating the importance of sustained intelligence-led security operations.
It was therefore surprising that, at a time when these operations appeared to be yielding positive results, true to a strategy of distraction, spurious allegations suddenly surfaced, accusing the DSS personnel of sexually harassing Fulani women and intimidation posed to the men of the same extraction during operations around Kwok, otherwise known as “Ruga Jalo”. These allegations rapidly dominated public discourse and generated widespread reactions, which in a way tended to slow the patrols and operations of the deployed operatives.
Let us be unequivocal. Allegations of misconduct against any security agency must never be dismissed. They deserve prompt, impartial and transparent investigation in accordance with the law. However, allegations, however sensational, must never be elevated to established facts without credible evidence.
To the best of our knowledge, based on information available from credible sources within the affected communities, there was no burning of houses, destruction of property or other acts consistent with some of the alarming narratives circulated in the public domain. Public opinion must never be manipulated by falsehood, exaggeration or orchestrated misinformation, particularly where national security is concerned.
It is pertinent to note that the Kwak community is situated in close proximity to Sabon Layi. Like every professional security institution worldwide, the DSS conducts operations based on intelligence assessments and operational considerations that are often not available to the public. Such operational decisions should not become the subject of reckless speculation capable of undermining legitimate efforts to secure vulnerable communities.
What deeply concerns us is the pattern that appears to be emerging. Shortly after these allegations gained prominence, terrorists struck again in Riyom Local Government Area, brutally murdering nine innocent persons.
While it remains the responsibility of the appropriate security authorities to establish the full operational circumstances surrounding these events, our communities cannot ignore what has become an all-too-familiar sequence: whenever sustained security pressure begins to restrict the activities of terrorists, narratives capable of distracting public attention, weakening operational momentum or eroding confidence in security agencies often emerge, only to be followed by renewed attacks on vulnerable communities.
Having lived through years of systematic violence, displacement and land occupation, our people cannot be faulted for viewing this disturbing pattern with grave concern.
We therefore urge all security agencies not to be distracted from their constitutional responsibility of protecting innocent citizens. Those engaged in genuine security operations should be encouraged, supported and held accountable strictly within the ambit of the law, while frivolous, malicious or unsubstantiated allegations intended to obstruct legitimate security efforts must be carefully scrutinised and investigated.
The blood of our people demands more than expressions of sympathy. It demands justice. It demands courage. It demands sustained action.
Our ancestral lands must no longer remain killing fields.
Our communities must no longer be sacrificed on the altar of impunity.
Our displaced people deserve to return home in safety and dignity.
The era in which terrorists dictate the rhythm of life in Plateau State must come to an end.,
Enough is enough!
We, therefore, call upon the Federal Government, the Government of Plateau State, all security agencies, traditional institutions, civil society organisations and every patriotic Nigerian to remain resolute and united in confronting terrorism, banditry and all forms of violent criminality that continue to threaten the peace, security and territorial integrity of Plateau State and the nation at large.
In particular, we urge the Plateau State Government to consolidate and build upon the measurable gains already recorded in Barkin Ladi through closer institutional collaboration with the Department of State Services (DSS) and other security agencies. The intelligence-led security architecture that has yielded encouraging results in Barkin Ladi should, as a matter of urgency, be replicated across other vulnerable local government areas that continue to bear the brunt of these coordinated attacks, including Riyom, Bokkos, Mangu, Bassa, Jos South, Kanam and Quan Pan.
We are convinced that a coordinated expansion of such proactive security deployments, driven by intelligence, inter-agency synergy and sustained operational presence, will significantly strengthen the protection of lives and property, restore public confidence, and gradually deny criminal elements the operational space they have exploited for far too long.
Finally, we wish to unequivocally assure the Department of State Services and all other patriotic security agencies that the overwhelming majority of law-abiding citizens who genuinely yearn for peace recognise and appreciate every lawful sacrifice being made to halt the bloodshed and restore normalcy to our communities. We acknowledge that the task before our security personnel is both arduous and dangerous, and we commend every officer who continues to discharge his or her constitutional duty with courage, professionalism and fidelity to the rule of law.
As indigenous peoples whose communities have paid an immeasurable price in blood, displacement and destruction, we stand firmly behind every constitutional, intelligence-driven and professional measure aimed at dismantling terrorist networks, dislodging criminal occupiers from illegally acquired territories, securing our ancestral communities, and guaranteeing every law-abiding resident of Plateau State the freedom to live, farm, worship and pursue legitimate livelihoods without fear or intimidation.
We equally call upon all citizens to remain vigilant, cooperate with security agencies by providing timely and credible intelligence, reject falsehood, misinformation and propaganda capable of undermining legitimate security operations, and collectively recommit ourselves to the pursuit of justice, accountability, lasting peace and the preservation of our ancestral heritage.
The blood of our people cries out not for vengeance, but for justice.
The tears of our widows and orphans demand not rhetoric, but decisive action.
The future of Plateau State depends on our collective resolve to ensure that terror never triumphs over peace, and that truth will never surrender to propaganda.
May God bless Plateau State.
May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
