Nigeria's Plateau State has been plagued by violence for years, with Christian communities facing targeted attacks from Fulani militants. On July 4, 2026, three Christian community security guards were shot dead while on watch at the edge of Sabon Layi in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area.
The victims, Sunday, 25, Benjamin James, 33, and Godwin Yakubu, 27, were unarmed and stood no chance against the heavily-armed Fulani attackers. Christian village watchmen are generally armed with sticks and muskets, while the Fulani are equipped with sophisticated AK-47s.
Community youth leader Samuel Jeremiah, 41, described the area as one of the most dangerous stretches in Barkin Ladi, noting that the two-to-three-kilometer route between Rantiya (Sabon Layi) and Takwai becomes impassable after 7 p.m. due to gunfire.
Jeremiah stressed that the community's vigilantes, including the three victims, receive no government pay or recognition for their watch duty. "Nobody is paid for what we are doing," he said.
The town has been "under siege" since roughly 2001, with attacks continuing to the present. Jeremiah noted that a resident "can only be safe for a moment, if it doesn't come to you." Military forces have been deployed to the area under Operation Enduring Peace, but Jeremiah said the presence of mobile police and the Department of State Services has not deterred the attackers.
Jeremiah rejected claims by some government officials that Berom Christian communities maintain an armed, paid militia. He said the Christian village security guards are unpaid volunteers who do not possess sophisticated weapons. By contrast, the Fulani have sophisticated weapons and financial incentives in the form of ransom payments.
The assailants are exclusively Fulani, according to Jeremiah, who distinguished them from neighboring indigenous groups that the Berom communities have never fought. He described an escalation over time, from attacks with machetes and arson to sophisticated weapons and the transport of mercenaries by vehicle.
Jeremiah alleged that local collaborators harbor these mercenaries within Barkin Ladi town, sheltering them until an attack occurs, after which they disappear back into the bush. He said the current method often involves concealing armed men among cattle herds brought into the town, followed by gunfire once they are inside.
Jeremiah also alleged that some Fulani settlers have used proceeds from attacks and kidnapping ransoms to buy land and houses within Barkin Ladi town. He cited figures of one to two million naira and claimed that wounded attackers have reportedly been treated within the town before returning to the bush.
Jeremiah listed a series of surrounding villages that have been depopulated by repeated attacks and bombings, including Rerin, Tahoss, Rahwol, Yelwa Rangam, Lugfai, Dawang, and Rantiya (Rentiya). Resettlement effort in Rantiya collapsed after the man leading the rebuilding was killed.
Jeremiah said he holds governments at every level – local, state, federal, and international bodies up to the African Union and the United Nations – responsible for failing the people of Plateau State. He argued that residents are defenseless against better-armed attackers whose identities remain unaddressed.
Jeremiah pushed back against claims that the violence reflects a farmer-herder or resource conflict rather than religious targeting. He argued that attackers routinely invoke "Allahu Akbar" during killings, which he said is evidence of religious motivation rather than a land dispute.
Jeremiah said the years of violence have damaged his faith in institutional Christianity, though not his belief in God or Jesus Christ. He argued that church leadership has failed persecuted communities by continuing to collect tithes and offerings from congregations even after churches were burned and members displaced.
Jeremiah called on church leaders to send representatives to the communities to understand the situation. "Let them come in the quiet of the morning and speak with the widows and orphans," he said. "Then they will see what has happened here."
Until Nigerian law changes to allow Christian villages to field armed watchmen, the battle between the Fulani and the Christians will continue to be AK-47s against muskets. So far, the AK-47s are winning.
