Four miners were killed after a mining pit collapsed on them in Tangur community, Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State.

Christopher Luka, a youth leader in Bokkos, confirmed the incident, explaining that the pit collapsed around 10 a.m. on Tuesday while the victims were working inside the tunnel. He said the victims included two men and two women.

Luca said, “Yes, the incident actually happened yesterday while they were inside the tunnel. Two are women while the other two are men. It is unfortunate. One was buried on Tuesday because he was a Muslim while the other three were buried today because they were Christians.”

Another resident of the community, Maren Jacob, also confirmed the incident. He said the victims were engaged in sand excavation from a pit located around a riverbank in the community, adding that the bodies were recovered on Tuesday.

Many miners have lost their lives as a result of pit collapses, and despite the state government ban on illegal mining, people continue to engage in the activity.

On August 13, 2026, seven miners have lost their lives after a mining pit collapsed at Kassa community in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State on Wednesday evening.

In another development, no fewer than three persons were reportedly killed around the Kyikyau–Gyambwas boundary in Mangu Halle District of Mangu Local Government Area.

The victims were killed around 7:49 p.m when the community is observing dusk to dawn curfew.

The latest incident occurred a day after the state government imposed dusk to dawn curfew in Mangu, Bokkos and Barikin Ladi LGAs, to restore law and order following reports of attacks and killing.

Also, dozens of people including women were killed within few days in the affected Local Governments.

Confirming the Tuesday night ambush, in a statement signed by its Director of Public Affairs, Tubwot Joël Sunday, the victims were victims who were keeping watch on the community.

“The Mwaghavul Youth Movement (MYM) is deeply disturbed that this deadly attack occurred during the period of the newly imposed 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. curfew, a measure introduced by the Plateau State Government with the stated objective of protecting lives and enabling security agencies to stabilise affected communities,” he said.

The movement questioned the effectiveness of the curfew if armed criminals could still move and attack communities during the restricted hours.

“If law-abiding citizens are confined to their homes from 6:00 p.m., while armed Fulani criminals continue to move, attack and kill with impunity during the same period, who is the curfew ultimately protecting?” he asked.

Also, the National President of Mwaghavul Development Association, Bulus Dabit, condemned the incident, describing it as dangerous.

He also noted that, “The curfew is not working with lawless persons. While our people observe the curfew these bandits don’t .Rather they take advantage of as they invade soft targets of our communities especially those at the borders during the curfew period.

“The show of force is in semi urban areas while the Rural areas remain vulnerable. We don’t need much security personnel in the urban areas. They took down three of our boys and mutilated their bodies. Now they are taking the attacks to our door steps knowing we will not response due the presence of security agdnts. The curfew creates the enabling environment for them to escalate the attack on our communities, “the president said.

Spokesperson of Operation Enduring Peace, Captain Polycarp Oteh, when contacted said he had noted the inquiry but did not say anything about it.