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By 247ureports.com
At least five people were killed and two others injured on Saturday when gunmen attacked a mining site in Marit village, Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State — the latest in a string of attacks that has kept the area under a dusk-to-dawn curfew since earlier this week.
What Happened
According to community sources, the attack occurred at around 1 p.m. Saturday while the victims were carrying out mining activities. Rwang Tengwong, spokesman for the Berom Youth Moulders Association (BYM), confirmed the toll, describing it as a very sad and painful development, and called on security agencies to strengthen their presence in the area to prevent further attacks. As of filing, neither the police nor the Nigerian Army had issued an official statement confirming the identity of the attackers or their motive.
Some social media reports, including from journalist Masara Kim and TruthNigeria, have described the victims as Christians killed by Fulani terrorists in “Lajam,” which they describe as part of the Marit village cluster, and noted the attack came hours after TruthNigeria had issued a security alert for the wider area southeast of Jos. That specific framing has not been confirmed by mainstream Nigerian outlets reporting on the incident, which describe the victims as miners and have not attributed the attack to a named group.
Part of a Wider Pattern
The attack lands in the middle of an already tense security situation in the area. The Plateau State government imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on Barkin Ladi, Bokkos and Mangu LGAs earlier this week following a series of attacks and reprisal killings, including the fatal shooting of Rev. Andy Samuel, 53, at Marit Junction. Troops in the area were also involved Saturday in rescuing a district head reportedly attacked by youths in nearby Jos East LGA, following the killing of a resident at an illegal mining site there.
The Marit attack also follows a separate, non-violent mining tragedy days earlier in Tangur community, Bokkos LGA, where four suspected illegal miners died after a sand excavation pit collapsed — underscoring the broader risks facing mining communities in the state, both from attacks and from unsafe informal mining conditions.
Government Response
Plateau State Commissioner for Information, Joyce Lohya Ramnap, has urged residents to remain calm and law-abiding while security agencies work to restore order in the affected local government areas.
247ureports.com will update this story as security agencies confirm details of the attackers and their motive.
