In Nigeria, the city of Jos, capital of Plateau State, is experiencing a major security crisis.
On Wednesday, Jos was the scene of riots following an armed attack last weekend in a bar, which left around thirty people dead.
Angry crowds set vehicles ablaze and sowed chaos in several neighborhoods as security forces intervened to contain the violence. The exact toll remains uncertain, but several civilians were wounded by gunfire or beaten during retaliatory clashes.
Tensions in the city, historically religiously and ethnically mixed, are fueled by a complex mix of local conflicts. In this region, farmers and nomadic herders regularly clash over access to land.
Florence David Aged, a student at the University of Jos, described the panic: "Everyone was stressed and panicked… People were trying to make calls or ask for help from those who could come to their aid." The university ordered the evacuation of its student residences, highlighting the humanitarian emergency in an already fragile context.
Lawan Salisu Abubaka, a youth leader in the Jenta Apata neighborhood, points out the fragility of local coexistence: "Most of the problems come from people who have come from elsewhere, and every action inevitably provokes a reaction."
The recent attack, which occurred on Palm Sunday, was followed by unverified rumors on social media suggesting that Christians had been targeted, exacerbating religious tensions in a city where Christians and Muslims usually coexist peacefully.
The incidents reported by witnesses are chilling: Sani Danladi Marshall, a car salesman, describes a public lynching, while Usman Musa, wounded by gunfire, emphasizes the random and uncontrollable nature of the attacks. These events illustrate the porous boundary between local violence and broader conflicts linked to land disputes between farmers and nomadic herders, which exacerbate ethnic and religious tensions in Plateau State.
In response to this escalation, the Nigerian presidency announced that Bola Tinubu would visit on Thursday to offer his condolences to the victims and local authorities.
