Amid escalating insecurity in parts of Barkin Ladi Local Council, the Plateau State government has warned residents against taking the law into their hands or engaging in any form of reprisals, urging full cooperation with security agencies to prevent further breakdown of law and order.

In a statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Samuel Jatau, the Governor Caleb Mutfwang’s administration condemned in strong terms the barbaric attacks on Dorowa Babuje and Nding communities on February 19, 22, and 23, which claimed innocent lives and triggered widespread unease.

Jatau also decried a security incident in the early hours of Tuesday around the Terminus–Gadan Bako axis in Jos, which further fuelled tension in Jos North council area.

The statement said the state government saw the acts as senseless and cowardly, expressing deep condolences to bereaved families and praying for the quick recovery of the injured.

The SSG said the governor lamented that the violence undermined ongoing gains from dialogue, reconciliation, and community engagement initiatives that had restored relative peace.

The statement quoted the governor as stating that no individual or group should resort to reprisals or take laws into private hands, insisting security forces must be allowed to handle investigations and enforcement professionally.

Residents were encouraged to provide credible intelligence to aid ongoing probes while avoiding actions that could escalate tensions.

Similarly, former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has strongly condemned the recent killings in parts of the state, warning against a resurgence of ethnic and religious profiling on highways.

He described the killing of four young traders at Dorowa Babuje in Barakin Ladi council area on February 23 as barbaric and unacceptable.

The ex-minister said he had believed the country had moved beyond what he termed a “dark era of profiling citizens on highways and slaughtering innocent travellers.”

In a statement, Dalung regretted that the victims were slaughtered on their way to Pankshin Monday Market to undertake legitimate business.

While acknowledging the right of communities to defend themselves when attacked, the former minister stressed that retaliatory violence against harmless travellers would only deepen divisions and escalate tensions.

He called on security agencies to fulfil their constitutional mandate of protecting lives and property, urging them to identify and prosecute those responsible for the killings.