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Nigeria: Dozens killed in Plateau state attack
At least 25 people were killed in an attack on Bin-Per village in Nigeria's Plateau state, with residents reportedly targeted house-to-house with machetes. The violence follows the killing of two herders and a suspected reprisal in a nearby village, part of a long-running conflict between herders and farmers.
At least 25 people were killed on Monday night when armed men stormed the village of Bin-Per in the Mangu local government area of Nigeria's Plateau state, according to local officials. Perpetrators reportedly moved from house to house, killing residents with machetes, and women and children accounted for most of the victims.
Resident Muftwan Yamput told France's AFP news agency that he and his family "survived by a whisker," but added, "my neighbors were attacked. Two people killed in their house."
The attack is part of an escalating cycle of violence in the region. Monday's massacre followed the killing of two herders last week, which in turn were followed by a suspected reprisal targeting the nearby village of Maitimbe, where multiple houses were torched.
The Mwaghavul Youth Movement, a local advocacy group, has accused authorities of failing to protect vulnerable communities. "The recurring destruction of communities, killing of innocent citizens, burning of homes and destruction of farmlands cannot continue to be treated as ordinary incidents," said the group's spokesperson on Sunday, while calling for a review of security in the area.
Matthew Kwarpo, a representative in the Plateau state assembly, called on authorities to "deploy proactive measures in preventing or mitigating unnecessary attacks before they occur," especially in Mangu. "The incident underscores the urgent need for concerted efforts to address the underlying grievances and prevent further escalation of violence in the affected communities," said Kwarpo.
Broader conflict context
The incidents of the last week are the continuation of years of spiraling violence between nomadic Muslim ethnic Fulani herders and mainly Christian farmers over access to increasingly scarce land and resources in central Nigeria's Middle Belt region. Land grabbing over mineral and mining resources, political and economic tensions between locals and outsiders, and the influx of hardline Muslim and Christian preachers have fueled divisions in the region. Plateau state has seen hundreds killed in urban riots between religious groups in recent years.
Amnesty International has documented the scale of the crisis. In May 2025, the organization estimated that at least 2,630 people had been killed in Plateau state alone in the two years since President Bola Tinubu took office, and said authorities had failed to protect the rights to life, physical integrity, liberty, and the security of tens of thousands of people across Nigeria.
The attack in Bin-Per is the latest in a series of violent incidents that have displaced communities and heightened fears of further reprisals. As local officials and advocacy groups call for stronger security measures, the underlying grievances over land and resources remain unresolved, leaving the region vulnerable to continued bloodshed.
How this outlet told it
Deutsche Welle
Framing: Emphasizes the death toll and location, presenting it as a new attack without explicit religious/land-grab angle. — Measured, using neutral language like 'monster attack' and quoting local officials and residents.
Facts Included:
At least 25 people were murdered on Monday night in Bin-Per, Mangu LGA, Plateau state.
Perpetrators moved house to house, killing residents with machetes.
Women and children accounted for most of the victims.
Resident Muftwan Yamput told AFP he and his family 'survived by a whisker' but two neighbors were killed.
Monday's massacre followed the killing of two herders last week and a suspected reprisal in Maitimbe where houses were torched.
The Mwaghavul Youth Movement accused authorities of failing to protect communities, calling for a security review.
Plateau state assembly representative Matthew Kwarpo called for proactive measures.
Amnesty International estimated 2,630 killed in Plateau since President Tinubu took office, saying authorities failed to protect rights.
The conflict is framed as between nomadic Muslim Fulani herders and mainly Christian farmers over land and resources.
Land grabbing, political tensions, and hardline preachers fuel divisions.
Plateau has seen hundreds killed in urban religious riots in recent years.
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Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimAt least 25 people were murdered on Monday night by armed men who stormed the village of Bin-Per in Mangu local government area of Plateau state, Nigeria.
ClaimThe Mwaghavul Youth Movement spokesperson said the recurring destruction of communities, killing of innocent citizens, burning of homes and destruction of farmlands cannot continue to be treated as ordinary incidents.
ClaimPlateau state assembly representative Matthew Kwarpo called on authorities to deploy proactive measures to prevent or mitigate attacks before they occur, especially in Mangu.
ClaimMatthew Kwarpo said the incident underscores the urgent need for concerted efforts to address underlying grievances and prevent further escalation of violence in the affected communities.
ClaimThe incidents are a continuation of years of spiraling violence between nomadic Muslim ethnic Fulani herders and mainly Christian farmers over access to scarce land and resources in central Nigeria's Middle Belt region.
ClaimLand grabbing over mineral and mining resources, political and economic tensions between locals and outsiders, and the influx of hardline Muslim and Christian preachers have fueled divisions in the region.
ClaimIn May 2025, Amnesty International estimated that at least 2,630 people had been killed in Plateau state alone in the two years since President Bola Tinubu took office.
ClaimAmnesty International said authorities had failed to protect the rights to life, physical integrity, liberty and the security of tens of thousands of people across Nigeria.
ClaimSokden Mathias, Director of the Cultural Mogavul Development Association, reported that eyewitnesses estimated the attacking force at Bin Per at more than 500 people.
ClaimSokden Mathias said the security situation began deteriorating around 2018 when Fulani herders started rustling cattle from indigenous Mogavul farmers.
ClaimSokden Mathias alleged a coordinated land-grabbing agenda in which attackers burn churches before destroying villages and Fulani settlers occupy communities afterward.
ClaimSokden Mathias cited the nearby community of Alon, where two women from a displaced Christian community were attacked while collecting firewood; one died and the other was hospitalized.
ClaimSokden Mathias argued the targeting is religious rather than resource-driven, pointing to a pattern across Kaduna, Benue, and Riyom in which Christian communities and churches are attacked while nearby Muslim settlements are not.
ClaimIn an army raid in Chakfem, soldiers confiscated approximately 17 locally made firearms and six AK-47s held by a community leader in trust to defend the community, despite no evidence of cattle rustling.
ClaimA source said the confiscation of firearms in Chakfem left the community in total confusion and vulnerability and unable to defend itself if attacked.
ClaimSokden Mathias said he does not currently trust the Nigerian government to protect residents of Plateau State and called for a joint security task force, road construction, and international and federal support.
ClaimFulani herdsmen killed more than 300 Christian farmers in Benue state's Agatu area beginning in February 2016, and two weeks after the killings herdsmen remained grazing cattle on the farmland of the displaced community.
ClaimIn October 2025, the Benue State Government reported that armed herdsmen had taken over more than 17 counties, displacing hundreds of thousands of residents.
ClaimCatholic Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of the Makurdi Diocese testified that 20 parishes in his diocese no longer exist because of attacks and described militant Fulani herders as hired guns of cattle oligarchs seeking to eliminate the Christian population.
ClaimCommunity leader Yohana Margif said herdsmen had driven Christians from nine villages in Bokkos LGA—Hokk, Kaban, Kadim, Nawula, Dulu, Mbor, Margif, Chirang, and Mangor—and set up tents and grazed cattle on the land.
ClaimData from Intersociety found that 950 locations across more than 800 communities in the southeastern states of Abia, Enugu, Anambra, and Ebonyi had come under Fulani occupation by 2025, up from roughly 10 in 2015.