Mwaghavul Youths Reject New Military Deployment in Mangu Following Deadly Bin-Per Attack
Jos — Tension remains high across parts of Plateau State following a fresh wave of deadly attacks, with youths in Mangu Local Government Area rejecting a newly announced military deployment meant to restore security in the area.
The unrest follows an attack on Bin-Per community in Kombun District of Mangu, in which no fewer than 24 people were killed after armed attackers reportedly invaded the settlement, torching homes and destroying farmland. In response to the killings, the military relocated the tactical command of Operation Enduring Peace (OPEP), the joint security task force overseeing Plateau State, to Mangu, while the Commander of OPEP, Major General Maxwell Dangana, launched a fresh offensive tagged “Operation Hard Knock” aimed at flushing out armed elements from the area.
However, youths under the aegis of the Mwaghavul Youth Movement have expressed a lack of confidence in the new deployment, arguing that the approach adopted by soldiers on the ground has remained largely unchanged despite the fresh reinforcement. Speaking on behalf of the group, its Director of Public Affairs, Tubwot Joel Sunday, said troops stationed in the area tend to remain concentrated within the town centre rather than moving into border areas from where attackers typically stage their incursions into surrounding villages.
Sunday further accused security personnel of adopting a reactive posture rather than proactively pursuing suspected attackers before violence occurs, stating that soldiers largely wait for attacks to happen before responding, at which point local youths who attempt to defend their communities often become casualties. He cited a recent incident in which two young men protesting the Bin-Per killings were themselves shot dead by soldiers, identifying the victims as 35-year-old Obadiah Alfred and 30-year-old Bak’ar Musa. The youth group said it was considering legal action against the military over the deaths.
Efforts to obtain a response from the Media Officer of Operation Enduring Peace, Captain Chinonso Oteh, were unsuccessful at the time of the report.
The renewed unrest in Mangu adds to a troubling pattern of violence that has gripped several parts of Plateau State in recent months, with communities in Barkin Ladi, Riyom, Jos South, and other local government areas repeatedly experiencing coordinated attacks, reprisal killings, and destruction of property despite sustained military operations in the region. Youth groups and community leaders across the state have consistently questioned the effectiveness of existing security arrangements, with some residents in the past calling for a complete overhaul of the security approach in affected communities.
As frustration grows among locals over the recurring cycle of attacks and what many describe as delayed or ineffective military response, stakeholders continue to press the federal and state governments for stronger intelligence-driven operations, greater accountability from security agencies, and more direct engagement with affected communities to prevent further escalation of violence in Nigeria’s volatile Middle Belt region.
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