By Pamson Musa, with agency reports
Marauding terrorists have taken over a village in Mushere Chiefdom of Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State, driven out its residents, renamed it and converted the local church there to a mosque.
A community leader, Amos Gyang, disclosed this while speaking at a charity event organised by the Plateau United Foundation in Jos.
Consequently, the incident has left many families displaced and without access to their farmlands and homes.
He explained that the invasion happened last year and was carried out by armed Fulani bandits.
Gyang said the attack came as a shock to the people, who had lived peacefully with Fulani settlers in the area for years.
Gyang said many survivors are now scattered across displacement camps, struggling to survive in poor conditions.
Some families, he added, have been forced to beg in order to feed their children.
He described how the attackers seized farms, animals and homes after pushing everyone out of the village.
According to him, the renaming of the community and the conversion of the church symbolises a complete takeover of their ancestral land.
“We were living in peace, going about our businesses because most of our people are farmers. But in September of 2025, we experienced the worst when Fulani terrorists suddenly attacked our village,” Gyang said.
“Before the attack, we did not have any issues with them because some of them had lived with us for several years and even spoke our language. We took them as our brothers, not knowing that they had bad plans for us.
“Those terrorists who attacked our village were armed with deadly weapons and killed over 10 people while forcing everyone to flee for safety. They took over our land, farms, livestock, and most painfully, changed the name of the village and turned our church into a mosque,” he said.
“As I stand here before you, many of our people are living in IDP camps facing horrendous conditions while our fertile land is being occupied by the Fulani. We have now become beggars just to feed our families.
“We have called on the government several times to come to our aid but all our pleas have fallen on deaf ears because we do not have anyone to fight for us. But we believe that one day, our prayers will be answered and we will go back to our ancestral land,” Gyang said.
He appealed to the state and federal governments to intervene and help restore the community to its rightful owners.
Gyang also called for stronger security presence in the area to prevent further attacks.
