Plateau Killings: IGP Deploys AIG, After 22 Killed in Bokkos

Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu deployed an Assistant Inspector-General of Police and additional security reinforcements to Plateau State on Tuesday, June 24, 2026, following the killing of 22 people including health workers and patients in a coordinated attack on Kawel village in Bokkos Local Government Area on Sunday night.

The IGP expressed deep concern over the loss of lives in Bokkos and directed the reinforcement team to work closely with the Plateau State Command, the Nigerian Army, and local vigilante groups to restore calm, secure the affected communities, and intensify the manhunt for the perpetrators. He said he was personally monitoring the investigation into the attack.

Governor Mutfwang Orders Accountability

Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang directed security agencies to apprehend those responsible for the attack, warning that the government would not allow violent groups to target civilians with impunity. He also ordered humanitarian agencies to provide immediate relief to survivors and displaced residents. The state Information Commissioner Joyce Lohya Ramnap described the attack as a heinous and senseless act of violence that the government unequivocally condemned.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who attended a separate event in Jos, used the occasion to call for more decisive government action on insecurity in Plateau and across Nigeria. His remarks reflected the growing frustration of elder statesmen with the pace and effectiveness of the federal government’s security response. A separate attack in Barkin Ladi LGA killed six more persons just days after the Bokkos massacre, underscoring the persistent threat to farming communities in the area.

Plateau Faces Recurring Cycle of Violence

Security analysts noted that Plateau State has suffered recurring cycles of community-level violence for more than two decades, rooted in competition over land, water, and political representation between farming and herding communities. However, they said the targeting of a primary healthcare centre during the Bokkos attack marked a particularly alarming escalation. Furthermore, former Benue Governor Samuel Ortom challenged Governor Hyacinth Alia to a debate over the management of insecurity in Benue, where community killings have also continued. Consequently, the Middle Belt security crisis remains one of Nigeria’s most entrenched and unresolved governance failures.