The Nigerian Bar Association in Plateau State has called for an investigation into what it described as the delayed response of security agencies to the wave of attacks across the state, and demanded that any personnel found culpable be sanctioned.
The demand was contained in a joint statement read by the chairman of the NBA, Jos Branch, Morgan Dung, at a press conference by the association’s branches in Plateau at the NUJ Secretariat in Jos on Monday. Dung said the recurring violence in Mangu, Barkin Ladi, Riyom and Bokkos Local Government Areas raised serious constitutional and governance concerns.
At the centre of the association’s case is the constitutional duty to protect life. Citing Section 33 of the 1999 Constitution, the NBA said the protection of lives and property was the most fundamental responsibility of government, and accused the authorities of showing insufficient commitment to that obligation.
The lawyers were particularly troubled by attacks that continued after a curfew had been imposed. According to the statement, terrorists disregarded the restriction and struck communities that were obeying the order, and some vigilantes at Kikyau village in Mangu were killed at their duty post during curfew hours.
The NBA said similar incidents had been reported at Kantoma and Bin-Per villages in Mangu, and at Kassa, Wereh, Ropp, Fan and Marit in Barkin Ladi. It described the pattern as an invitation to total anarchy and a breakdown of law and order.
The statement pointed to what the association called a troubling picture of impunity, with non-state actors operating unchecked and sometimes evading justice. It said this sent a dangerous message that human life was expendable, and warned that citizens were losing faith in the ability of the state to protect them.
The association placed part of the blame on how security is commanded in Nigeria. It called on the Federal Government to move security to the concurrent legislative list through an executive bill, giving state governors real control of security operations rather than the title of chief security officer without command over personnel.
The NBA linked the crisis in part to cross-border incursions. It said the violence had been attributed to militias entering Plateau communities from Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Bauchi, Gombe and Taraba states, as well as from the Republic of Niger, and urged stronger border surveillance.
The lawyers also raised the question of compromised personnel. They demanded that the armed forces and paramilitary agencies be well equipped and disciplined, and called for an end to what they described as belated arrivals at scenes of attack after assailants had already retreated, saying such cases should be investigated and erring officers punished publicly.
Not all of the statement was critical. The NBA commended President Bola Tinubu for visiting Plateau to condole with the state over killings in Jos North and for his steps towards the creation of state police, and it acknowledged the Plateau State Government for revamping Operation Rainbow and training 2,000 Neighbourhood Watch and hunters personnel.
The association further called for time-bound trials of terrorism cases, greater transparency in prosecuting alleged sponsors, and the relocation of security vehicles from state headquarters back to flashpoints in the hinterland. It pledged to deploy the legal expertise of its members to support victims, preserve evidence and pursue accountability, noting that peace without justice is fragile.
The intervention follows one of the deadliest recent stretches in the affected councils. The Plateau State Government imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on Barkin Ladi, Bokkos and Mangu on Monday, 21 September 2026, with the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Joyce Ramnap, saying the measure was to help security agencies stabilise the area and prevent a breakdown of order.
The government put the restriction between 6pm and 6am and also banned motorcycle movement across the three councils. Official and community accounts indicated that more than 20 people, including women and children, were killed in Mangu, Barkin Ladi, Bokkos and Riyom within days, with several houses burned.
The killings did not stop with the curfew. Accounts from the affected areas recorded further deaths after 21 September, including the ambush of vigilantes in Mangu, feeding the NBA’s argument that restrictions were binding law-abiding residents while attackers moved freely.
The violence sits within a long history of bloodshed on the Plateau, where herder and farmer tensions, disputes over land and contests around mining sites have driven repeated attacks. The area saw one of its worst episodes in December 2023, when coordinated attacks across Bokkos and Barkin Ladi left about 200 people dead.
What remains unresolved is whether the investigations the NBA is demanding will be opened, and whether the constitutional and command reforms it is urging will be pursued. Those questions, for now, rest with the Federal Government, the National Assembly and the security agencies named in the association’s statement.