Attackers described as Fulani herders by residents of Bokkos and Mangu Local Government areas in Plateau State have killed at least 30 locals in a series of coordinated attacks between Friday and Saturday.

FIJ learned that the attackers killed seven people, including a clergyman associated with the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), in Kopnanle, a village in Mangu LGA, on Friday evening.

A community leader who spoke to FIJ said that the attackers went to Mandung-Mushu in Bokkos LGA, where they killed nine people and severely injured one.

READ ALSO: Herdsmen Kill 2 Pregnant Women in Fresh Plateau Attack

“The attackers killed three people at Mbar, a settlement close to Bokkos, at 11:30 pm on Saturday. They were serving as vigilantes, protecting their community. The attackers met them and killed three of them,” the source told FIJ.

“Two people were killed at GSS Kopyal and four others at Baba Rafi in Bokkos, but we cannot exactly say what happened. Some reports say the military killed them while they were rustling cows, but we cannot say for sure.”

The source said that, in a retaliatory move, locals from Bokkos went around the LGA searching for the attackers but did not find them.

Another source in Kawel, Bokkos, told FIJ that some locals burned the houses of their Fulani neighbours in Kawel on Saturday as a means to send them away from their community.

READ MORE: LIFE AFTER APOCALYPSE: Empty Villages, Abandoned Farmlands… Plateau Residents on Edge After Christmas Eve Attack

“Although there was no loss of life on Saturday, the residents burned their houses. Two weeks ago, they evacuated the Fulani and their cows because they did not want them around,” she said.

The Bokkos residents involved in the removal of the Fulanis in the LGA are doing so because prior to a massive attack in December, the attackers informed the residents they would attack the areas with cows, she added.

When FIJ called Major Samson Zhakom, spokesperson of the Nigerian Army in Plateau State, for comments on the matter, he admitted that there was a breach of security in the Bokkos and Mangu LGAs.

“There was a security breach yesterday in Bokkos and Mangu LGA of Plateau State. However, the timely response by troops of Operation Safe Heaven thwarted the situation,” he told FIJ.

“In Mandung-Mushu in Bokkos LGA, three people were injured during the attack and were taken to the hospital but two of the injured victims died, while in Kopnale under Mangu LGA of Plateau State, one local was killed while two were injured. A church and a house were partially burned, but the troops put off the fire. In total, three people were killed and three injured.”

Similarly, FIJ called Alfred Alabo, Plateau State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), for comments on the matter, but he did not respond and hasn’t replied to the text sent to his phone as of publication time.