By Muhammad Tanko
Armed gunmen, have Sunday shot and injured five Fulani men at a Conoil filling station along the Bukur Expressway in Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has confirmed.
The Plateau State Chairman of MACBAN, Ibrahim Yusuf Babayo, confirmed the incident, explaining that the victims were travelling in a J5 open-body vehicle conveying eight herders.
According to him, five of the occupants sustained gunshot injuries and were rushed to hospital for treatment.
Babayo said the attack occurred while the herders were returning from Kara Market, a major cattle market in Bukur.
“The victims were on their way back from Kara market around 6pm when three gunmen on a motorcycle, who had been trailing them, opened fire on their vehicle at the Conoil fuel station and fled,” he stated.
Also speaking, the Deputy Chairman of Kara Market, Dauda Adam Ciroma, described the attack as deadly and said it happened around 7:30pm.
He noted that police officers from the B Division responded promptly to the scene.
“Immediately after the attack, police officers arrived and actively participated in evacuating the victims to the hospital. It was the police and I who took them to the hospital. They were badly injured, with fractures and bullet wounds,” Ciroma said.
Babayo disclosed that the injured herders were initially taken to the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) but were later transferred to the Potters Specialist Hospital, Jos, due to the ongoing strike at the government-owned facility.
Describing the attack as unprovoked, the MACBAN chairman said the victims were merely buying fuel when they were targeted.
“This attack is unprovoked. The gunmen deliberately attacked the herders and fled. This has become a dangerous trend threatening the existence of Fulani herders in the state,” he said.
He added that the association was urging its members to remain calm, noting that the attacks appeared aimed at provoking reprisals.
Babayo called on security agencies to thoroughly investigate the incident and arrest those responsible.
“As Fulani herders, our lives are no longer safe—whether in communities, grazing fields, markets, or public places. We urge security agencies to wake up to this dangerous trend and stop it immediately,” he added.
Efforts to obtain reactions from the spokespersons of Operation Enduring Peace, Major Samson Zhakom, and the Plateau State Police Command, SP Alabo Alfred, were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.
