At least seven people were killed in two attacks on Christian farming communities in Nigeria’s Plateau State, according to police and local community groups cited by The Gateway Pundit.
Gero: Night attack, conflicting death toll
In Gero village (Jos South LGA), gunmen opened fire around 9:30 p.m. on Monday, October 26, according to the Berom Youth Moulders-Association (BYM). BYM spokesperson Rwang Tengwong told Channels Television that seven people were killed and their bodies taken to a mortuary. Plateau State police reported six deaths.
Police Commissioner Ayodeji Faniyan deployed mobile police and tactical units led by the deputy commissioner (operations) and visited Gero the next day, meeting community, youth, and women’s representatives. Joint security teams searched surrounding areas and recovered motorcycles and other items believed left by the attackers, police said.
Governor Caleb Mutfwang, speaking at a swearing-in ceremony in Jos, said evidence recovered at the scene could help identify the perpetrators and noted Gero’s proximity to the Jos metropolis.
Community leaders identified the attackers as armed Fulani herdsmen, while police described them as unidentified gunmen. BYM President Barrister Dalyop Solomon Mwantiri told reporter Masara Kim he believes the Gero attackers came from neighboring Bassa LGA.
Gwom-Ajang: Women ambushed during harvest
Two days earlier, on October 24, armed men ambushed women harvesting groundnuts and soybeans in Gwom-Ajang village (Foron District, Barkin Ladi LGA), killing 60-year-old Anthonia Sunday and injuring two others, including 30-year-old Happiness Gwom, who was taken to Jos University Teaching Hospital, according to local accounts cited by The Gateway Pundit. Community youth leader Dung Sunday alleged the attackers were armed Fulani herdsmen who had settled near the village.
The outlet’s field reporting team also said gunmen attacked Gwom-Ajang on May 31, 2026, opening fire on residents at a birthday gathering. BYM reported eight people killed and more than 10 injured, attributing the attack to armed Fulani gangs; police confirmed five deaths.
In a statement signed by Tengwong, BYM condemned the October 24 attack, saying the victims were farming to support their families: “No citizen should have to risk their life simply to cultivate or harvest crops.” The group urged the Plateau State Government and security agencies to investigate, arrest those responsible, and increase patrols during harvest season, and called for early-warning and rapid-response systems with community participation.
Food security fears and disputed blame
The Gateway Pundit reports that Nigeria’s herders are mostly Fulani, a primarily Muslim people, and that community groups in Plateau, including BYM, attribute attacks on Christian villages to armed Fulani herdsmen. Some Christians also accuse herders of driving cattle onto farms to destroy crops as a tactic to force residents to leave. The outlet cites 2026 reports of crop destruction alongside killings.
As examples, its report says troops of Operation Enduring Peace in April found 16 cattle grazing on a cultivated cabbage farm in Tahoss (Riyom LGA) with no herder present, and that in June armed men destroyed about five hectares of cabbage and carrots nearing harvest in Gassa (Ropp District, Barkin Ladi LGA). BYM condemned farmland destruction, sexual harassment of women returning from farms, and cattle rustling in Riyom and Barkin Ladi LGAs. The Mwaghavul Youth Movement said an attack on Nchiya (Mangu LGA) followed cattle entering farmland and destroying crops.
John Wuyep, chairman of the Plateau State chapter of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, told BusinessDay that farmers in Bokkos and other areas could no longer visit their farms alone. An agricultural economist in the state Ministry of Agriculture warned that this year’s harvest could decline if farmers cannot return to their land. Amnesty International reported in 2025 that most people displaced by attacks in Plateau were farmers, leaving them unable to cultivate their land.
The field reporting team assessed that attacks on Christians working on or traveling to farms, together with crop destruction, are intended to disrupt village economies and force residents to leave through hunger. This is their assessment.
Next steps and calls for accountability
Police say joint teams continue searching the area around Gero. Governor Mutfwang said investigators recovered evidence that could help identify those responsible. After the Gero attack, Tengwong said, “The killing of innocent people in Gero is condemnable and must not be allowed to continue.”
