Gunmen launched a coordinated assault on the farming communities of Zike and Kimakpa in the Kwall District of Irigwe Chiefdom, Bassa Local Government Area, Plateau State . The attackers, arriving in large numbers, razed villages, looted homes, and killed civilians indiscriminately . According to a Red Cross source, 47 persons were confirmed dead, 22 others were injured and taken to hospital, and five houses were burnt down.
13 Apr 2025 · Zike and Kimakpa, Bassa, Plateau
Deaths
47
Injured
22
Kidnapped
0
Total casualties
69
Perpetrators
Unidentified Armed Actors
Response
Governor Caleb Mutfwang convened an expanded State Security Council meeting and visited the affected communities. The Inspector-General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, deployed additional police personnel to Plateau State. President Bola Tinubu ordered security agencies to investigate the crisis. Amnesty International condemned the attack and called for an independent panel to investigate security failures.
Displacement
Nearly 1,000 residents were displaced by the violence, according to the Irigwe Youth Movement
Socioeconomic drivers
Land disputes, grazing pressures from climate change, weak rural policing, impunity for perpetrators, ethnic and religious tensions . The attack occurred despite the presence of a security tower with drone technology in the area, which residents said was ineffective
Trajectory
This pattern of successive attacks suggests a coordinated campaign targeting farming communities in Plateau State. The failure to apprehend perpetrators has emboldened attackers, leading to a cycle of violence and reprisals
Cycle notes
This attack mirrors the 2023 Mangu violence (over 300 killed) and the Christmas Eve 2023 attack in Barkin Ladi (over 150 killed) . The conflict in Plateau dates back to the 1994 Jos crisis and has claimed nearly 5,000 lives since 2001. The pattern of "faceless impunity" — where attackers are seldom identified or caught — has allowed the cycle of violence to persist.
Pattern
Farmer–herder conflicts
Related — Communal Violence
Abako community in Kastina-Ala LGA, Benue State was attacked during the Tiv–Jukun communal crisis.
Police reported that Tiv militias killed one of their officers in Jandekyura.
An ethnic crisis erupted in Takum following the alleged killing of a Jukun youth by Kuteb youths. The single incident sparked a violent communal clash between the two groups, resulting in significant casualties and mass displacement. Governor Danbaba Suntai publicly reacted to the crisis, expressing pessimism that the killings among the communities would ever end. The state government's reaction was one of being “seemingly overwhelmed” and “clueless.”