Fulani community leaders in Plateau State have disputed a report that troops of Sector 4, Operation Enduring Peace, killed a suspected bandit at Rungan Jallo in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of the state.
The leaders said the victim, identified as Alhaji Yusha’u, was an elderly man and the grandfather of Ismail Zakariya, a Fulani Point-of-Sale (POS) operator who was reportedly killed in a separate attack.
This was disclosed in a post on X on Tuesday by Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency and security expert in the Lake Chad region.
According to the community leaders, Yusha’u was allegedly mistaken for a bandit and shot while returning home from Nyola.
They said Yusha’u was the grandfather of Zakariya, who was reportedly killed in an ambush in Barkin Ladi by suspected Berom militia.
The development followed reports that troops launched an operation after two female miners were killed and subsequently encountered suspected militia members at Rungan Jallo.
The initial report claimed that troops killed a suspected militia member during the encounter and recovered two motorcycles believed to have been used by the attackers.
However, the Fulani community disputed the identity of the deceased, insisting that he was an elderly civilian who was returning home, not a bandit.
A community source told Zagazola Makama: “Alhaji Yusha’u was the grandfather of Ismail Zakariya, the POS operator who was killed by Berom militia. He was on his way home from Nyola when he was allegedly mistaken for a bandit and gunned down.”
The community leaders called for an investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding Yusha’u’s death and determine whether he was involved in the attack that prompted the military operation.
The incident has heightened concerns among Fulani residents over the safety of civilians caught up in the cycle of attacks and reprisals in parts of Plateau State.
Fulani leaders fault reported killing of ‘bandit’ in Plateau