Plateau Community Leaders Overwhelmed by about 5000 Displaced Persons, Count Losses Following 31 Persons Killed in Kwara

By Naanlep Dabee and Justine Dyikuk

Community leaders in Ganawuri District of Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, north-central Nigeria, the epicentre of incessant attacks by suspected Fulani militia, have lamented that their woes have increased due to the recent unprecedented influx of thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) into their community.

The displacement followed the Tuesday, 3 February 2026, massacre at Woro-Nuku communities in Kwara State, which left at least 200 people dead at the hands of Jihadi terrorists.

Photos of 13 victims whose bodies were found following the Kwara attack, slated for burial in Ganawuri community on 20 February

In an exclusive interview, the Ata’a Gura of District in Ganawuri Chiefdom, Riyom LGA of Plateau State, His Royal Highness (HRH) Yakubu Musa Chai, who expressed concerns about the humanitarian need, told Advocatus Africa that, “My concern is, I don’t know how they are going to fit [into our community]. More than 3000-5000 people.”

The Ata’a Gura, HRH Yakubu Musa Chai, alleges that more than 3000-5000 displaced survivors in the Kwara attack are from Ganawuri

He further posed some rhetorical questions, “How are we going to cope with them? How will they associate with our people here?” while stressing that “It will not be easy for them because they are used to life there. They have understood their lives there, but here, we have many ethnic groups – Fulani, Hausa. It may be difficult for them to relate or associate with others.”  

Speaking on how the attack also affects the Church, the Chief, who spoke to our correspondent on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Holy Season of Lent, said “In Gura, many of us are Catholics. We have the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) and the Catholic Church, but Catholics are more in number. We have St. Thomas Pastoral Area,” but decried that “We lost many of our members in the Church, in the community. So, this has affected the Church.”

Survivors ahead of the funeral of their beloved relatives lost in the Kwara attack

Lamenting about a similar incident that affected some of his subjects in Niger State, the traditional ruler said the terrorists “kidnapped some of our people and killed one person. They have been demanding N10 million to release his corpse to us, but the community there told us not to pay the ransom. They assured that they would ask the government to rescue the victims. We don’t know what to do now.”

Some of the IDPs being evacuated from trucks. Credit: Plateau Intelligentsia

The Ata’a Gura of Ganawuri pleaded with the civil authorities to intervene in the circumstance, saying, “We want the government to do something about it. They had their houses there and didn’t build their own houses here, in their ancestral home. We don’t know where to put them. How can we cater to them? They need shelter, food, and clothing. Some arrived here naked because they ran to escape what happened.”

On his part, Advocatus Africa‘s tour guide during the monitoring of the arrival of survivors and immediate past Councillor of Ganawuri, Hon. Augustine Gyang, explained how Plateau indigenes who fell victim to the terrorists found themselves in Kwara State.  

The Immediate Past Councillor of Ganawuri, Hon. Augustine Gyang, clarifies that the Plateau indigenes went to Kwara for farming purposes

“The major occupation here is farming. They left this community in search of soil that has nutrients so that they can benefit from their farming. Here, before you farm, it consumes a lot of input, especially fertilizer; without putting fertilizer, you cannot harvest anything. They had to go there to farm. You can see their hoes [farming implements],” said he.  

Community by community data of 707 people affected by the Kwara bandit attack on 6 February 2026, from Ganawuri Chiefdom, Riyom LGA, Plateau State

Gyang clarified that “Some of them built houses here and took their families for seasonal farming. They visit home occasionally. However, on 6 February, we received a phone call that something was happening in Woro. As community leaders, we sought help, but before it came, we learnt that more than 31 people from this community were killed.”

He, however, gave the number of survivors who have been displaced as “more than 800,” a figure which sharply differs from the 5000 earlier given by his HRH Musa Chai. Nonetheless, the official figures obtained by Advocatus Africa in the link below indicate that 707 people of Plateau extraction were affected by the Kwara attack.   

On his part, the Ata’a Ateng and President of Riyom Traditional Council, HRH Yakubu Chaimang, expressed shock over the ugly development, which has now become a humanitarian crisis in his domain.  

The Ata’a Ateng, HRH Yakubu Chaimang, insists that the government should explain “what is happening.”

“It is very surprising. If you compare it with other places, Riyom has never been like this. Ganawuri has never been like this. No one ever thought that a situation like this would develop in Ganuwuri. It is something that is very worrisome.

“If it has happened in very unsuspecting circumstances, anything can also happen now. Everybody will be afraid to go back there,” he said.

Asked if the community would cater for the returnees, he replied, “We don’t have that kind of money,” insisting that “As a community, we want to tell the world what has happened. And we want the world to do something for us. Because we really need the support of the government, NGOs, and people who are in a position to do something for us. Because what has happened to us is unbelievable.”

Some of the Kwara returnees in dire need of shelter. Credit: Plateau Intelligentsia

Describing the attacks as “very traumatic,” HRH Chaimang said, “It beats my imagination” that people who have lived in peace and “cultivated farmlands in that place without any problems” would suddenly be killed in cold blood.

“The government should come into this [matter] and investigate [it] so that we will know exactly what happened. It is possible that I can just leave my home, go and settle in a place, become very comfortable, then later on, get killed, and nobody can give any account of what happened to me?” he questioned.

The Deputy Chairman of Riyom LGA, Hon. Gyang Gwya, who spoke to Advocatus Africa at the spot where survivors were being evacuated from trucks and other smaller cars in Nkun community, emphasised that “As a community, we are saddened by the ugly incident that took place in Worro Community, in Kwara State, which affected our people. That is why they are being displaced. As a local government, we had to put in efforts to assist in evacuating them.”

The Deputy Chairman of Riyom LGA, Hon. Gyang Gwya, urges the state and federal governments “to hear” their “cry.”

When asked about the humanitarian pressure on the community, given that Riyom has suffered frequent attacks by suspected Fulani militants, the Deputy Chairman said, “Riyom as a whole is feeling the pain – with this happening, it is a thing of concern for the LGA.”

Hon. Gwya called for assistance, saying, “My call to the state and federal government is that our people need interventions; we need relief materials to enable them settle down.

“We also call on the federal government to hear our cry; to help our people because we are not finding it easy. Where are they going to start? Some of them spent about 30 years in that community, and now they have been displaced. This is our own concern as a community.”

Among the survivors are nursing mothers and children

Beyond asking for humanitarian aid, HRH Chaimang demanded justice – urgent arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of the Woro-Nuku attacks, while asking that “The government should come into this issue and really tell us what is happening.”

Well-meaning Nigerians are also calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, Plateau Governor Caleb Mutfwang, Deputy Governor Josephine Piyo, National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Hon. Dr. Bernard Doro and Mrs. Zubaida Umar, the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), to provide immediate humanitarian aid to these innocent survivors.