Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A 48-year-old farmer, identified as Mr Marcus Yakubu, has been found dead on high ground at Kassa Village in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State, with residents suspecting that the attack was carried out by Fulani herders. The discovery was made at about 8:38 a.m. on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, after troops of Sector 4, Operation Enduring Peace, responded to a report of a corpse found in the area.
According to security sources, troops arrived at the location and confirmed the body as that of Yakubu, who had reportedly left home on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, to carry out farming activities but failed to return. The deceased's family members subsequently located and recovered his body. The circumstances surrounding his death remain under investigation, but residents of the community have pointed fingers at suspected Fulani herders, who they allege have been responsible for a series of attacks on farmers in the area.
The killing of Marcus Yakubu is not an isolated incident. It is the latest chapter in a long and bloody pattern of violence that has turned Plateau State's farmlands into killing fields. In the same week, an 87-year-old woman, Mrs Kande Bulus, was found dead with machete wounds along a stream in the Wildlife Park Forest Reserve in Jos North Local Government Area. In August 2026, suspected herders killed 18 traders in Ekwuloko community, Edda Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, prompting the Association of Ebonyi State Indigenes in Diaspora to petition the United Nations. In July 2026, terrorists killed 50 farmers in Plateau State, with at least 13 victims found in a single incident. In April 2026, suspected herdsmen killed a 65-year-old farmer, Kehinde Joseph, in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, after he refused to allow them to graze their cattle on his cassava farm. In March 2026, 12 farmers were killed in an attack on Ikeram village in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State.
The human cost of this violence is staggering. According to a fact-finding committee report covering 2001 to 2025, Plateau State recorded 420 attacks on communities, with 11,749 people killed. In the first two weeks of September 2026 alone, at least 20 people have been killed in various attacks across the state. The violence has displaced thousands of families, disrupted agricultural activities, and deepened food insecurity in a region that should be producing food for the nation. Farmers who once cultivated their land with confidence now work in fear, knowing that they could be the next victim. Those who can afford to have abandoned their farms entirely, leaving their fields to fallow and their families to struggle.
The pattern of attacks suggests a level of organisation and impunity that is deeply troubling. The assailants strike at dawn or dusk, using the cover of darkness to ambush farmers on their way to or from their fields. They target isolated farms and high-ground positions, knowing that the nearest security outpost is often hours away. They disappear into the forests and hills that cover the region, evading capture and regrouping for the next attack. The residents of Kassa Village, like countless other communities across Plateau State, are left to bury their dead, count their losses, and wonder when the government will finally find a way to protect them.
The Plateau State Government has repeatedly condemned the attacks and called for calm, but the violence has continued. Governor Caleb Mutfwang has described the situation as a threat to the state's peace and security architecture, and has called for regional cooperation to tackle the criminal networks operating across state boundaries. The military has conducted clearance operations and rescued victims in various parts of the state. Troops of Operation Enduring Peace have responded to distress calls, engaged attackers, and recovered weapons. But these operations, however successful in isolation, have not been sufficient to stem the tide. The attackers adapt, they regroup, and they strike again.
The killing of Marcus Yakubu is a tragedy, but it is also a question that every Nigerian must confront. How many more farmers must be killed before the government finds a way to protect them? How many more families must bury their breadwinners before the security architecture in Plateau State is strengthened? How many more attacks must occur before the authorities take the kind of decisive, sustained action that the situation demands? The residents of Kassa Village have been left to mourn their dead, count their losses, and wonder when the nightmare will finally end. For now, all they can do is wait and hope that the next attack does not come before the government finally acts.
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