By Frontline Reporters
Panic and grief gripped residents of Anguwan Rukuba in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State on Sunday after gunmen unleashed a sudden and deadly attack, leaving several people feared dead.
Eyewitness accounts indicate that the assailants, riding on a motorcycle, stormed the busy Anguwan Rukuba junction in the evening and opened fire indiscriminately, sending residents fleeing for safety.
A local resident, who spoke under anonymity, described the terrifying moments.
“The attackers just rode past and started shooting sporadically. People were running in different directions,” the source said.
The exact number of casualties remains unclear as of press time, but the incident has heightened tension across the community, with fears of further violence looming.
In the immediate aftermath, enraged youths took to the streets, blocking major roads in protest—a move that further escalated anxiety in the area and raised concerns about a possible breakdown of law and order.
Efforts to reach the Plateau State Police Command for official confirmation proved abortive, as both the Commissioner of Police, Bassey Ewah, and the Police Public Relations Officer were yet to respond to inquiries at the time of filing this report.
Sunday’s attack adds to a troubling pattern of violence in Plateau State, coming just weeks after a deadly ambush in Kanam Local Government Area, where no fewer than 20 security operatives and vigilantes were killed by heavily armed bandits.
According to reports, the victims—comprising military personnel and local vigilantes—were on a routine patrol across Garga, Kyaram, and Gyambau communities when they were overrun by hundreds of gunmen near Wanka.
The attackers reportedly went on to raid nearby Kyaram community, looting valuables worth millions of naira and rustling cattle, further compounding the plight of already vulnerable rural populations.
Community leaders have repeatedly warned that the spate of attacks across border communities linking Plateau, Taraba, and Bauchi states has persisted for years, with residents facing relentless threats of killings, kidnappings, and destruction of livelihoods.
As tensions rise once again in Anguwan Rukuba, residents are calling for urgent intervention by security agencies to prevent further bloodshed and restore calm in the troubled region.
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2026-03-29