Plateau Curfew Imposed: 48-Hour Lockdown Grips Jos North After Deadly Evening Attack
By: Abudu Olalekan
Bikes made noise first. After twelve, roads shut in Jos North. This is the truth behind events at Angwan Rukuba – fear now runs deep among those living there.
Evening light lingered on Sunday, meant to be still. Think about it – folks drifting back from worship, some standing near stoves selling bean cakes on street corners, that familiar murmur of Angwan Rukuba slowly fading.
Bikes showed up after that.
Outta nowhere, it hit. Hard to say anyone saw it coming. When the last shot faded in Gari Ya Waye, six bodies lay still. Done. Silence took over. Then came word – Jos North locked down. From midnight March 29 until April 1, 2026. Two days. No moving around.
Late Sunday, the state government made it public. Out came the words from Joyce Ramnap, Commissioner for Information. A “tragic security incident,” she called it – though truth be told, that phrase sits too lightly next to gunfire aimed at people walking back from church. Quiet streets turned wrong in minutes.
“Following the tragic security incident that occurred at Gari Ya Waye community, Angwan Rukuba, today, Sunday, 29th March 2026, resulting in the loss of lives, while several others sustained varying degrees of injuries,” the statement read.
A decision came down fast. The Plateau State Government stood with security forces behind it. From that moment on, movement stopped dead. Entry? Not happening. Exit? Also blocked.
Caleb Mutfwang spoke plainly. Calling the assault cruel and sudden was his first move. The search for those responsible is underway, he added. Right now, though, trust runs low in Angwan Rukuba. Empty pledges linger like smoke after a fire.
John Caleb, he lives there. Saw it happen. “We have been badly hit in Angwa by unknown gunmen,” he told Reportersroom. “So far, six people have been confirmed dead, and several other casualties are at the Luna Hospital by New Road. It’s very unfortunate.”
Six lives gone. In an instant. Not a warning. Only silence after.
But Janet Pam’s account, it chills you. She was home when the first shot rang out. “I was in my house at Angwa Rukuba when I heard the first gunshot,” she said. “At first, I ignored the sound, but when I heard it the second time. I came outside only to find out that it was gunmen on bikes shooting at people.”
Not chance at all. Hunting down those in motion. People trading near streets found themselves noticed. Her neighbour – Pam knew him well – he’d been returning from prayer when it happened. The house door never opened for him.
“So far, we have counted six persons who were killed during the incident,” Pam continued. “I have never seen anything like this before. This is pure terrorism.”
Off they went. The bicycles they arrived with disappeared long before guards got there. A clean getaway, swift and quiet. Everyone left shaken, unsure what happened.
Anger hangs thick in the air. Roads shut down, filled with young people standing firm. Officers moved in, cleared them out. Still, their reasons aren’t hard to see. The pattern repeats itself, again and again. Motorcycles stir fresh fear among locals – who now demand change. In Jos, in Bukuru, voices rise: stop okada riders. They offer cover too quickly to those with bad intent.
Truth is, this didn’t come out of nowhere. For months now, Plateau State has been losing people. Outlying villages first, yet lately even central Jos North feels the pressure. Not long back, violence struck in Kanam Local Government. An attack left twenty officers and local guards lifeless.
Exhaustion runs deep here. Violence strikes again – abductions, raids on livestock. The year 2025 hit hard. Think back to Bokkos, remember Barkin Ladi too? Bodies piled past one hundred, crowds huddled through nights in makeshift shelters. Then that night before Christmas, just two years prior: blood spilled across villages, lives cut short by the score.
Right now, a curfew sits in place – perhaps needed. Yet out there, among those who lost someone in Angwan Rukuba, it lands differently: hollow, delayed, almost pointless.
