BOKKOS, Plateau State — A chilling report has emerged from the Mushere Chiefdom of Bokkos Local Government Area, where a community leader alleges that Fulani bandits have completely annexed a village, renamed it, and converted the local church into a mosque.
The alarming revelation was made by Amos Gyang, a prominent local leader, during a charity event hosted by the Plateau Unite Foundation in Jos on Sunday, February 8, 2026. Gyang’s account highlights a campaign of territorial erasure in the home state of former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon.
A Strategy of Displacement and Erasure
Gyang narrated a harrowing account of the invasion, which he said began in September 2025. Despite years of peaceful co-existence, the community was suddenly ambushed by armed groups they once considered “brothers”.
- Territorial Annexation: The attackers reportedly drove out the indigenous farming population, seized their livestock, and occupied their fertile lands.
- Cultural Identity Scrubbing: Most significantly, the militants have allegedly renamed the village and converted its central place of worship—the community church—into a mosque to solidify their permanent control.
- Humanitarian Crisis: Hundreds of displaced residents are now living in dire conditions in Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps, with many reduced to begging for survival in neighboring towns.
Escalating Violence in Bokkos
The Mushere Chiefdom has faced sustained attacks throughout late 2025 and early 2026.
- Death Toll: Recent raids in Mushere villages have claimed at least 12 lives, including a local pastor, Gideon Katings, who was killed in August 2025.
- Mass Displacement: Groups such as the Mushere Youths Movement (MUYOM) report that nearly 25,000 individuals have been displaced across the district due to the escalating violence.
Calls for Federal Intervention
Gyang lamented that despite repeated cries for help, the state and federal governments have largely remained silent. Community groups, including the Bokkos Cultural Development Council (BCDC) Vanguard, are now demanding that the Fulani militants be officially designated as terrorists and that the annexed lands be recovered through decisive military action.
As of February 13, 2026, security agencies have not released a formal statement regarding the specific renaming of the village or the church conversion, but the reports have sparked fresh outrage over the “Gaza-style” land-grabbing tactics reportedly occurring in Nigeria’s Middle Belt.
