In a renewed wave of violence, gunmen suspected to be Fulani bandits ambushed and killed 14 passengers—among them women and infants—on Thursday, July 24, 2025. The victims were returning from the popular Bokkos weekly market in Plateau State when the attack occurred.

According to eyewitnesses, the victims had concluded their business at the market and were traveling along Chirang Road in the Mangor District of Bokkos Local Government Area when the assailants struck. The attackers, reportedly heavily armed, blocked the road and opened fire on the unsuspecting travelers, killing many on the spot and leaving several others wounded.

The Chairman of the Bokkos Cultural Development Forum (BCDF), Farmasum Fuddang, expressed outrage over the incident, describing it as both tragic and unacceptable. In a statement released on Friday, he lamented that such brutality could take place despite numerous peace and reconciliation efforts between farming and herding communities in the area.

“The victims were on their way home from the weekly market in Bokkos town when their vehicle was ambushed. Among the dead were women and young children,” he said.

Fuddang strongly condemned the attackers, whom he identified as Fulani militias, accusing them of aiming to seize control of Bokkos Local Government Area—a region known as Nigeria’s leading producer of potatoes.

“This act of violence makes a mockery of the so-called peace initiatives. It is evident that the goal is territorial dominance,” he added.