Mangu Residents Accuse Soldiers of Ignoring Distress Pleas During Deadly Attack

|By Chinwendu Nwani

Some residents of Mwar community in Chakfem Chiefdom, Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State, have accused soldiers stationed at a nearby checkpoint of refusing to intervene during a deadly attack carried out by suspected Fulani militias.

The community came under siege in the early hours of Sunday, November 30, 2025, leaving three people dead and two others injured. The attackers also looted food items and livestock before fleeing.

Youth leader Ayuba Yunana said panic-stricken residents fled to a military checkpoint just a few hundred meters from the village when the gunmen invaded and began shooting indiscriminately. He said the villagers begged the soldiers—about ten of them—to intervene as the armed assailants overpowered local vigilantes, but the troops allegedly declined.

“There were about 10 soldiers at the checkpoint, and our people pleaded with them to come and assist us as the Fulani bandits had overpowered the local vigilantes,” Yunana recounted. “But they insisted it was not their line of duty.”

Another resident, Paul Daluk, corroborated the claim, stating that villagers reported the attack twice but still received no support.

“After the soldiers refused to come the first time, some elders went again to plead with them, but they still refused,” Daluk said. “The troops only showed up on Monday morning, long after the attackers had finished and escaped.”

The residents continue to express shock over what they describe as blatant neglect by soldiers deployed to protect them.