“They carry sophisticated weapons! They cut down our brethren like nothing! We cannot even have Dane guns to defend ourselves—how can this happen? We will not sleep until justice comes!”
These anguished words came from a survivor who escaped a deadly ambush on Tuesday night, December 16, 2025, in the remote mining site of Ratoso community, Fan District, Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria.
Terrorists stormed the site around 9:30 p.m., arriving in large numbers and unleashing indiscriminate gunfire on artisanal miners hard at work under the cover of darkness.
The terrorists killed 12 people on the spot, wounded five others, and abducted three miners, dragging them into the surrounding bush before fleeing.
Survivors scattered in panic, some hiding until dawn.
By morning, community members recovered the bodies of their fallen neighbors—young men pursuing legitimate livelihoods in Plateau’s mineral-rich hills.
Dagallang Davott, chairman of the Berom Educational and Cultural Organisation and head of the local mining committee, confirmed the toll.
He described an unprovoked assault that shattered a brief period of calm in the region.
Meanwhile, Barrister Solomon Dalyop, national president of the Berom Youth Moulder Association, highlighted early warnings ignored by authorities about impending attacks during the Christmas season.
Local residents quickly notified the Nigerian Army’s 3rd Division, yet the gunmen vanished before reinforcements arrived.
Plateau State Police spokesperson SP Alfred Alabo acknowledged the incident, noting that officers remained in the bush searching for the perpetrators and the abducted victims.
This latest bloodshed extends a brutal pattern in Plateau State, where ethnic and religious tensions between predominantly Christian Berom farmers and Muslim Fulani herders frequently erupt over land, grazing rights, and resources.
Amnesty International reported that from May to November 2025 alone, attacks claimed over 2,500 lives and displaced nearly 30,000 people across the state.
Furthermore, mining sites have increasingly become targets, fueling accusations that violence ties to control over valuable minerals.
As families mourn ahead of the holidays and search parties continue, community leaders demand urgent government action to protect vulnerable rural areas and break the cycle of impunity.
Without decisive intervention, survivors warn, more lives will vanish into the night.
