Tension is rising in Nyamgo Gyel community in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State after residents and youths accused security personnel of detaining them over a dead cow, forcing them to pay compensation, and later failing to protect them when gunmen attacked the area.
The latest outcry followed a fresh attack on Friday evening in which three residents were killed and another injured while returning home from a mining site in Gero. The victims, identified as Luka Pam, Samuel Davou, and Deme Saidu, were reportedly ambushed while riding on a motorcycle. Their deaths have deepened fear and frustration in a community that says it has repeatedly cried for help but received little protection.
In a viral video, a youth leader from the area described a growing sense of abandonment, saying residents now feel trapped on their own ancestral land. According to him, many locals can no longer access their farms or move freely for fear of being attacked. He claimed women and young men now avoid parts of the community because of recurring violence and the presence of armed threats in the area.
What has made the situation even more painful for many residents is the allegation that, just weeks before the latest killings, some community members were detained by soldiers and pressured to pay for a dead cow they said they knew nothing about. The youth leader questioned why the same urgency shown over the cow was not seen when human lives were later lost.
His anger was not only about the killings, but also what he described as the silence and absence of authorities after the attack. According to him, despite calls to the police, DSS, and other security contacts, only a few officers reportedly showed up to help evacuate the injured victim.
The message from the community is now clear: they feel unsafe, unheard, and pushed to the edge. Their warning is not just about grief — it is about what may happen if people lose faith completely in the institutions meant to protect them.