Key Points

• The death toll from the Palm Sunday attack in Angwan Rukuba, Jos North, rose to 33 after additional victims died in hospital.
• Angry women and youths blocked a mass burial at ECWA Church, refusing to allow proceedings until three detained youths were freed.
• A 300-level university student was separately killed in Riyom LGA, deepening the crisis gripping Plateau State.

What was supposed to be a day of grief and burial turned into open confrontation on Tuesday, as angry women and youths in Angwan Rukuba community, Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State, blocked a mass funeral service for victims of last week’s Palm Sunday attack. By the time the dust settled, the state government had confirmed the death toll had climbed to 33.

Burial disrupted, families furious

The solemn service at ECWA Church collapsed into chaos when protesters gathered outside the auditorium and refused to let proceedings continue.

Their demand was singular: release three youths they said the military had arrested in connection with the attack. Demonstrators carrying placards insisted the young men were picked up while merely holding sticks, and that the actual perpetrators remained free.

Jeremiah Satmak, chief of staff to the Plateau State governor and the government’s representative at the burial, confirmed the updated casualty figure. He said the toll rose from an initial count of 28 after several victims succumbed to injuries in hospital.

“Government is working tirelessly to unravel the motive behind these killings and bring an end to the violence on the Plateau,” Satmak said. “This attack was meant to break our unity, but it will not succeed.”

He also announced that the three arrested youths had been released, a concession that came as demonstrators held the burial grounds under protest.

Calls for justice grow louder

The Rev. Gomwalk Dunkan, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria’s Plateau State chapter, did not mince words at the service. He framed the community’s grief in unambiguous terms: peace in Plateau cannot be brokered without accountability.

“There can be no peace without justice. Government must ensure that justice is served for lasting peace to return,” Dunkan said.

His remarks landed against a backdrop of raw frustration. Residents say they have watched attacks recur across the state with little consequence for those responsible, and Tuesday’s protest reflected how thin their patience has worn.

Violence spreads beyond Jos North

The Angwan Rukuba burial was not the only grim development in Plateau State this week. Gunmen ambushed and killed a 300-level university student in Dum Village, Bachi District, in Riyom Local Government Area, adding to the state’s mounting toll of civilian casualties.

In Barkin Ladi LGA, local leaders took a harder line. Chairman Stephen Pwajok and lawmaker Dickson Chollom, who represents Barkin Ladi Constituency in the Plateau State House of Assembly, jointly demanded that a suspect arrested in connection with the attack on Pommwol village face rigorous investigation and the full weight of the law.

Government under pressure

Satmak assured bereaved families that security agencies were actively working to identify and apprehend perpetrators, while urging residents to remain vigilant. The government’s assurances, however, rang hollow to some in the crowd, who have heard similar pledges before.

The protest, the parallel killings in Riyom and the uproar in Barkin Ladi together paint a picture of a state stretched to its limits, where grief keeps arriving faster than answers.