Good Friday Ambush Kills Three in Plateau
Three young men were killed and one injured on Good Friday after suspected armed assailants ambushed a group of youths returning home from a mining site in Nyamgo Gyel, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State, in an attack that has left the community in grief and renewed alarm over the state’s worsening security situation.
The victims, identified as Luka Sandu Pam, 36, Samuel Davou, 38, and Deme Saidu, 35, were on a motorbike returning from Gero when they were ambushed at approximately 7 p.m. The fourth member of the group sustained injuries and was evacuated to a hospital by police officers who responded to the scene.
Gyel Youth Leader Dung Davou said the victims were among a group of about 15 youths heading home when gunshots rang out without warning. “We started hearing sporadic gunshots, and everyone scattered. Unfortunately, three of our people were killed,” he said, calling on authorities to urgently respond to what he described as repeated and unprovoked attacks on the community.
The Chairman of the Berom Youth Moulders Association, Barrister Solomon Dalyop, who was present at the scene, said the victims had gone to observe Good Friday before being killed on their way home. “These young men went to mark Good Friday and were returning home when they were ambushed and killed. This is heartbreaking,” he said.
Dalyop disclosed that community and Fulani leaders had recently held a joint security meeting at the Sector 2 Command of the Nigerian Army in Jos South, where concerns were already raised about suspicious movements of unknown persons around Gero, Rafin Bauna, and Dutsen Kura in the Miyango-Bassa axis. “We were informed about suspicious movements in these areas, and we have since cautioned our people to be vigilant, especially at night,” he said.
He warned that the situation risked deteriorating further if decisive intervention was not made, while also noting that only the police responded after the attack. Community members have since called for increased security deployment in the area.
Efforts to reach the Plateau State Police Command spokesperson, SP Alfred Alabo, for official confirmation were unsuccessful as he did not respond to calls as of press time.
The attack in Nyamgo Gyel is the latest in a rapidly escalating wave of violence across Plateau State. Just days earlier, on March 29, 2026, Governor Caleb Mutfwang confirmed that 28 persons were killed in an attack on the Angwan Rukuba community in Jos North Local Government Area, prompting a 48-hour curfew. Fresh attacks also followed in the Jol community in Riyom LGA and Heipang District in Bassa LGA, even hours after President Bola Tinubu visited Jos to reassure residents of the federal government’s commitment to ending the cycle of killings.
Governor Mutfwang has described the recent pattern of violence as premeditated and well-orchestrated, saying security agencies were following up on actionable intelligence, though no arrests had been made as of the time of his latest public statement.
The identities of the attackers in Friday’s Nyamgo Gyel incident have not been officially confirmed by security authorities, and investigations are ongoing.