- A brutal midnight raid by armed terrorists on Kawel village in the Mushere District of Bokkos Local Government Area has left at least 22 people dead, including women, patients, and frontline healthcare workers.
- In a disturbing escalation of violence, the heavily armed attackers directly stormed the community’s primary healthcare facility, opening fire on defenseless medical personnel and patients who were receiving treatment.
- Community leaders and peace observers have fiercely condemned security operatives, alleging that prior intelligence was completely ignored and pointing out that the perpetrators openly operate from nearby occupied hideouts.
The volatile security architecture of Plateau State suffered another devastating blow in the early hours of Sunday when heavily armed terrorists launched a coordinated assault on Kawel village, located within the Mushere District of Bokkos Local Government Area.
The attackers invaded the sleeping agrarian settlement, systematically moving through neighborhoods while shooting sporadically and setting structures ablaze.
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The onslaught has plunged the entire local government area into deep mourning, with the initial casualty count swiftly rising as search-and-rescue teams recover more bodies from the surrounding terrain.
The Plateau State Police Command officially confirmed the tragic incident, stating that its operatives engaged the assailants in a fierce gun battle before forcing them to retreat into the expansive forests bordering the district.
According to an official press release issued by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Alfred Alabo, 18 victims were confirmed dead at the immediate scene of the attack, while two more succumbed to severe bullet wounds after being rushed to a nearby medical facility.
However, local youth leaders and community representatives on the ground report that the actual death toll has hit 22, noting that continuous heavy rainfall in the area has severely disrupted burial arrangements and ongoing rescue operations.
In a highly alarming dimension to the assault, a Red Cross official involved in emergency response operations revealed that the gunmen deliberately targeted the community’s Primary Healthcare Centre.
Witnesses stated that the terrorists stormed the medical facility and ruthlessly opened fire on the staff and admitted patients. Among those confirmed dead at the clinic were on-duty health workers and individuals undergoing medical stabilization, leaving several other survivors with severe machete and gunshot injuries.
The Military Taskforce in Plateau State, led by Captain Chinonso Oteh, acknowledged the severe security breach and confirmed that troops have been deployed to comb the bushes and launch an intensive manhunt for the fleeing perpetrators.
Expressing deep frustration over the recurring bloodletting, the Chairman of the Community Peace Observers in Bokkos, Kefas Mallai, openly accused security agencies of failing to act on actionable intelligence provided before the raid.
Mallai explicitly identified neighboring communities, including Hokk, Luwa-Pan, and Kadim, as well-known terrorist hideouts currently occupied by criminal elements who use them as launchpads for regional strikes.
This latest tragedy occurs less than a week after the high-profile assassination of the District Head of Gwande, Saf Samuel Alaket, signaling a dangerous breakdown of security across the borders of Bokkos LGA.
