JOS — No fewer than 22 people, including health workers and security personnel, were killed when gunmen attacked Kawel village in the Mushere District of Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State on Sunday night.
Several others sustained injuries in the attack.
Meanwhile, protests erupted in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Monday over the persistent wave of kidnappings across the state.
The demonstrations come as more than 40 pupils, students and teachers abducted from three schools in Oriire Local Government Area on May 15, 2026, remain in captivity.
However, the South-West Coordinating Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG), Adegoke Fayoade, assured residents that security agencies and government authorities were making significant progress in efforts to secure the victims’ release.
According to him, all available resources are being deployed to ensure the safe rescue of the abducted schoolchildren and their teachers.
In Ondo State, panic gripped Owo on Monday after suspected kidnappers launched two separate attacks, abducting a woman and her two children while also attempting to kidnap a pastor.
Also, Yoruba Nation activist, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, maintained that his continued advocacy for improved security across the South-West and other parts of Nigeria is aimed solely at criminal elements threatening public safety and not at any ethnic group.
Meanwhile, Catholic Bishops of the Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province have condemned the reintegration of repentant terrorists into society and security structures, describing the practice as an affront to justice and a disservice to victims of violent crimes across the country.
Speaking on the Plateau attack, residents said the gunmen invaded Kawel village late on Sunday, opening fire indiscriminately and attacking residents.
A Red Cross official involved in the emergency response, who spoke on condition of anonymity, disclosed that the attackers also targeted the community’s Primary Health Care Centre.
The official said health workers on duty and some patients receiving treatment were among those killed during the attack.
According to the source, the confirmed death toll includes civilians and security personnel, while several others sustained varying degrees of gunshot and machete injuries.
The official added that survivors had been evacuated to nearby medical facilities for treatment and stabilisation.
