One person was killed in a fresh attack in Plateau State just hours after President Bola Tinubu visited Jos to reassure residents over security. At approximately 6:56 a.m. on Friday, suspected gunmen from the Rankum (Mahanga) area attacked the Jol community in Riyom Local Government Area, killing 51-year-old Dalyop Betobeje. The incident followed another deadly assault in the Heipang District of Bassa Local Government Area, where gunmen believed to be herdsmen invaded Ban village around 9 p.m. on Wednesday. A secondary school student, Gloria Godwin, was killed, several others injured, and properties destroyed. The Berom Youth Moulders Association (BYM) condemned the attacks, calling them "a brutal and senseless act." BYM Heipang District Chairman Jacob Pam Chall acknowledged the swift security response but urged a thorough investigation and prosecution of those responsible. The group also called on residents to remain calm and cooperate with security agencies. President Tinubu, during his Wednesday visit, had promised affected families that the violence "will not repeat itself." However, the subsequent attacks have raised serious questions about the effectiveness of current security measures in the state.
President Tinubu's assurance that the violence in Plateau "will not repeat itself" now stands contradicted by the killing of Dalyop Betobeje less than 24 hours after his visit. His promise, made in Jos, has been overtaken by events in Riyom and Heipang, where two attacks unfolded with lethal precision. When a head of state's pledge collapses before the dust settles from his motorcade, it signals not just a security failure, but a crisis of credibility. For Nigerians in Plateau's rural communities, the pattern suggests that visits without enforceable strategy offer little more than temporary spectacle.
