By Nanji Nandang
Riyom Local Government Area (LGA) of Plateau State, Nigeria has long been at the heart of unrest, dating back to 2001. Amid the clashes over land and ethnicity that engulf the state, another war has raged, largely unseen—one that targets women and girls.
It’s a warm September afternoon. At the doorstep of Mr. Gyang Davou’s* compound in Rahoos community of the LGA is Nerat Davou*, a beautiful girl with ebony skin, and widely curious eyes that seem too bright for a story of loss; she is too young to fully understand.
The eight-year-old’s body language betrays her unease. She moves cautiously, eyes darting from her father to the stranger in the compound, as though unsure of whether to trust the new face.
There’s a subtle hesitance in her steps, as if she’s afraid that one wrong move might disrupt the fragile sense of security she clings to. When she finally reaches her father, she clutches his arm tightly, her small frame stiff with reservation.
“She was only five months old when it happened,” Gyang says, leaning on a round, roughly plastered hut as he speaks. “She never knew her mother’s touch, and she survived on baby formula.” There is a catch in his voice as he recounts the day his wife was taken from them violently, leaving Nerat to grow up with questions only the dead can answer.
Nerat, too young to remember her mother’s face or the warmth of her embrace, stands beside him, her eyes searching for answers she may never fully comprehend.
Nerat’s mother, Chundung, had given birth just a few months before another crisis erupted in 2016. Her husband, Davou, had traveled to Delta State earlier that month for work.
One quiet morning in March 2016, 20-year-old Chundung left her infant with her mother-in-law, to follow her sister-in-law and two other women who had invited her to a nearby farm to gather firewood.
It was a short walk. They had stacked the wood and began their journey home, when they heard heavy footsteps and low voices of a group of men speaking Fulfulde—the men’s faces were cold, their eyes sharp, as they marched toward the women.
“They were armed with machetes, sticks, and daggers,” Garos Davou*, the sister-in-law, recounts, her voice laced with pain and fear.
The women took to their heels. As they approached the village, they noticed Chundung didn’t catch up.
Garos and the other women alerted the villagers about the situation. The villagers accompanied the women back to the scene and searched for hours, but Chundung was nowhere to be found.
“We found her lifeless body around 6 p.m. that day,” Garos recalls, her voice trembling. “She had been raped, beaten, butchered, and tossed halfway into a river in the depths of the bush.”
The wounds and tattered clothes on Chundung’s body served as a silent testament to the horror she endured in her struggle for survival.
The young mother’s brutal rape and murder represent countless cases that happen in Plateau State amid the ongoing conflict, many of which go unreported in official spaces, suggesting the actual number may be significantly alarming.
Amnesty International reports numerous incidents where women who were raped during attacks, often face stigma and a lack of access to healthcare and justice thereafter.
For Gyang, life took a new turn as he quit his job in Delta to stay back in Plateau State for his daughter.
“I’ve done everything I can to make sure she doesn’t feel her mother’s absence, though I know it’s impossible. However, it’s really exhausting,” he says.
How It Started
Plateau State is known for its harmonious communal relations, hillsides, spectacular waterfalls, high altitude, and a temperate climate that has long attracted foreign visitors. However, ethnic violence broke out in September 2001, following a political disagreement that led to the killing of at least 1,000 people, leaving approximately 220,000 displaced persons in less than one week.
The ‘Home of Peace and Tourism’ turned into a scene of mass killing and destruction as the violence spilled into rural areas of the state.
According to victims, numerous clashes have erupted between Fulani herders and indigenous farmers; from Shendam, Wase, Langtang North and South, Kanam, Kanke, to Mikang, Pankshin, Jos North, Jos South, Bassa, Barkin Ladi, Riyom, Mangu, and Bokkos.
By 2004, the death toll had risen to over 5,000 people. In November 2008, approximately 700 people died.
Another gruesome incident occurred in 2010 when over 800 people died; including 150 children and 80 women who were murdered in Dogo-Nahawa, 10 kilometres south of Jos, the capital city.
Despite international outrage, including calls from Human Rights Watch and concerned individuals urging the Nigerian government to investigate and prosecute those responsible, justice remains elusive. Despite calls and actions related to the military and police on protecting civilians, the violence has only escalated over time.
The attacks reached a horrifying new level on Christmas Eve in 2023, when Bokkos, Barakin Ladi, and Mangu were plunged into tragedy, with over 2,000 residents—predominantly women and children—killed. More than 18,000 people were also displaced.
Research has shown that over 9,000 have been killed in the farmer-herder conflict since 2001.
A visit to Riyom, Barakin Ladi, Bokkos, and Mangu LGAs revealed the pervasive sexual violence that women in these communities endure.
According to survivors who have experienced sexual violence during times of crisis, there is a consistent pattern: ’Women are being raped on farms.’
This systemic cycle of violence appears relentless, leaving deep scars on lives and profoundly affecting communities.
Almost-Broken Marriage
Two weeks after one of the brutal attacks in Riyom and Barakin Ladi in 2012 that claimed over 100 lives, Kim Daweng* and his wife Yeipyeng* (aged 24) were preparing to visit their farmland in preparation for the harvest of ‘Accha’, commonly called ‘fonio’ or ‘hungry rice’. A group (Gaiya) was scheduled to come the next day to help them harvest.
As the couple prepared for the farm, a neighbour, Chollom*, informed them that their soybeans crops were wasting away on a different farm.
Kim immediately asked Yeipyeng to go to the Accha farm while he attended to the soybeans farm.
A few minutes later, while Yeipyeng was at the farm, three men entered, herding their cattle. When she saw the cows eating her produce, she called out to get their attention.
“They brought out long knives I had never seen before, and gathered around me immediately like I had threatened them in some way,” Yepyeng recounts.
The mother of two said she started begging for her life when the men, who spoke Fulfude, started arguing on whether to leave her alive or kill her. However, when one of them proposed that they rape her, they all agreed.
“I started screaming for help, but one of them tried to cover my mouth, while another held my hands. They threatened to kill me if I didn’t stay quiet.”
They tore her clothes off and the first man raped her while their cows were eating her produce.
Yeipyeng’s muffled scream caught the attention of community elder, Dara From, who was passing by a nearby farm. Just as the second man was about to take his turn, they heard Dara’s footsteps approaching. In panic, they abandoned Yepyeng and quickly drove their cattle away.
“I was crying and trying to cover myself with my torn clothes when Dara arrived,” Yepyeng says.
Dara called the community leader immediately on the phone, asking him to send people to the farm.
“This nearly cost me my marriage because family and friends turned my husband against me,” Yepyeng says, adding that her husband, along with family members deliberated on the matter for an entire year.
“My husband took me back in June 2013 after a series of tests from different hospitals.”
A Matter of Concern
Da Gyang Tinjah, the Gwam Rahoss (community leader of Rahoos community in Riyom), confirmed five cases similar to those of Chundung and Yepyeng.
“Our women are not safe going to the farm or walking alone in this community,” he says.
According to him, as recently as September 2024, a 56-year-old woman was brutally raped and killed by Fulani men.
The woman had gone to get some firewood from a nearby farm but met her end.
“We have repeatedly informed the security personnel assigned to this community, but nothing has been done. In fact, we reported Chundung’s case at the police station,” he adds.
A report by Fund for Peace in 2018 highlights the sexual violence women and girls face in the Plateau State conflict.
‘Security personnel also culpable’
A Professor of Gender Development, Oluwafunmilayo Para-Mallam, highlights that violent attacks in Plateau are intensifying community vulnerability with complex patterns. Male farmers are systematically targeted for elimination, while women face sexual violence or are forced into sexual servitude.
“At times, women and girls are gang-raped by their assailants. A number of women, particularly young women, have been kidnapped, with one recently released after six years in captivity,.” she says.
The gender expert explains that her research has uncovered patterns in which women and girls in IDP camps are forced into sex by barter, as well as child and sex trafficking.
Prof. Para-Mallam, who is the National Coordinator of Christian Women for Excellence and Empowerment in Nigerian Society (CWEENS)—a safe house providing rehabilitation for survivors of violence against women and girls, says that CWEENS’ research has uncovered a high incidence of teen pregnancies caused by security personnel.
“A significant number of security personnel abandon pregnant girls. These individuals are meant to protect the community, yet they are violating young girls instead,” she states.
‘ Widowed, Struggling to Survive—Then Raped’
“I heard gunshots and a strange noise,” says Ladi Musa*. The 32-year-old had just finished frying chin-chin in preparation for the 2023 Christmas celebration, when at 10 p.m. on December 23, her village was suddenly plunged into chaos.
Ladi said she felt a strange breeze, a chilling sensation she couldn’t quite understand. “I whispered a prayer,” she recounts, because her husband was out on his vigilante watch, leaving her alone in the house with their daughters.
“I heard strange voices speaking Fulfulde as they approached our compound,” Ladi recalls. “My children and I ran out of the house and hid in the bush. I didn’t know where my husband was, and I was worried about him. When we returned in the morning, I learned he’d been found lifeless,” she says, her voice heavy with pain.
Ladi was in a hurry to return to the village once the crisis had settled. ”I wanted to start farming again because it’s our only source of livelihood. With my husband gone, I had to do more to provide for my children,” she explains. But while tending to her farm, the widowed mother of three was brutally raped.
Local data shows that many women and children have been forced to flee their homes because of the attacks in Barakin Ladi, Riyom, Mangu, and Bokkos
According to the Plateau State Peace Building Agency, the indicators of the Bokkos crisis include armed robbery, sexual assault targeted at women and girls, cattle rustling—and perpetrators are Fulanis and unknown gunmen in rural areas.
‘War Crimes’
“What’s happening in Plateau State is more than just sporadic violence,” says Chidi Odinkalu, a renowned Professor of International Human Rights Law.
“The conflict in Plateau State is classified as a non-international armed conflict (NIAC) under the International Criminal Court (ICC), involving organised, sustained violence within the borders of Nigeria between the Nigerian government forces and non-state armed groups, specifically Fulani militias,” he says.
Prof. Odinkalu expressed concern that the Nigerian government’s reluctance to recognise the crisis as non-international armed conflict has allowed perpetrators to evade justice.
Amnesty International raised a similar issue in its research, pointing out that the government’s failure to investigate has intensified the bloody conflict between farmers and herders nationwide.
Prof. Odinkalu explained that the Rome Statute of the ICC explicitly recognises rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, and other forms of sexual violence as war crimes and crimes against humanity if they are part of a widespread or systematic attack on civilians.
“The violation against a woman that was subjected to stigma and forced to leave her marriage for a year is not just a sexual violation but a human rights crime,” he adds.
The international law expert emphasised the importance of individuals and survivors being able to submit petitions to the prosecutor of the ICC. He also stressed the need for proper documentation and protection of survivors.
To address this, he proposed that the state establish sexual assault referral centres in collaboration with teaching hospitals and relevant agencies. This would ensure proper documentation and evidence collection to support prosecution efforts.
He also highlighted the Nigerian government’s—particularly Plateau State’s—obligation to prevent and respond to war crimes against women and girls by recognising these crimes as non-international armed conflict (NIAC) to address the issue.
“The State Gender Commission, Peacebuilding Agency, and the Ministry of Justice can draft a strategic plan to bring justice; international entities can partner to hold perpetrators to account,” he says.
Prof Para-Mallam confirmed that NGOs, CSOs, research institutions, and scholars have documented some eyewitness accounts. According to her, the state government can create a platform where evidence can be compiled into a petition.
“The state government can open a complaint and grievance platform and I think the state peacebuilding agency is uniquely situated to handle the platform for collation of statistics,” she adds.
Both Prof. Odinkalu and Para-Mallam expressed concern over the absence of evidence demonstrating that the perpetrators of these crimes had been arrested and prosecuted.
(Editor’s note: Africa Prime News is currently awaiting a response from the Plateau State Command of the Nigeria Police Force regarding a Freedom of Information request. This request seeks data on arrests and prosecutions related to violence against women and girls in Plateau from 2001 to the present. This report will be updated as soon as the information is made available).
Lack of Access to Healthcare
Twelve years later, Yeipyeng still suffers from recurring nightmares and has developed a phobia of going to the farm which is her only source of livelihood.
Now a mother of four, she has been a full-time housewife since the incident occurred. She expressed the fear that since her attackers were never arrested or brought to justice, she is afraid they will come after her again.
“I still see the long knives on some nights. And sometimes, I feel the beating. I really appreciate my husband for supporting me through those frightening nights,” she says.
Following the stigma targeted at her months after the incident, she chose to run away, especially as her husband’s family continued to push for their separation.
She was compelled to move to her father’s house. “I stayed there for a whole year. But when it finally came to an end, my husband warned his family and friends to stop stigmatising me. I haven’t faced that since he passed the warning.”
Yeipyeng expresses her desire for the nightmares to end and for her attackers to be held accountable.
Although she visited private hospitals for tests a few weeks after the incident, there was no immediate care for her injuries or prevention of sexually transmitted infections or unwanted pregnancies. Yepyeng said she has also not received any form of psychotherapy because she is unaware of its availability.
Like Yeipyeng and Ladi, at least 30% of the women Africa Prime News spoke to in Plateau State are unaware of psychotherapy. The absence of Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs), which provide essential services for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), has further contributed to this issue.
There are 29 SARCs in Nigeria, but Plateau State does not have any. Also, the state’s 2024 budget did not allocate funds for establishing one.
“I don’t think we are able to calculate the volume and the intensity of damage that has been done to the survivors of these forms of violence,” says Prof. Para-Mallam who expresses concern over the lack of comprehensive trauma counseling and psychotherapy programmes, particularly for the survivors in rural areas.
She mentioned that the capacity for psychotherapy in the state is limited and urged the government to train LGA social welfare workers in this area to better support women like Yepyeng and Ladi.
In response to concerns raised by experts and survivors, the Chairperson of the Plateau State Gender and Equal Opportunities Commission, Olivia Dazyam, announced that the state government has integrated gender into the 2025 budget.
“Plateau State has recently been in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. The conflict has drawn opportunists with harmful intentions, leading to a sharp rise in child trafficking and violence against women,” she says.
According to her, perpetrators target conflict areas, luring children with promises of a brighter future to recruit and traffic them across the country.
“We are developing strategies to address this issue,” she adds.
Hunger Crisis Alert
Yeipyeng laments she is tired of doing nothing to support her family, yet doesn’t have the resources to start a business.
“I want to start selling foodstuffs in a shop. It will help me to feel better,” she says.
Prof. Para-Mallam also stressed the need for interventions by international and local agencies to help survivors like Yepyeng, Ladi, and Nerat build back better.
“These women require compensation and post-conflict recovery assistance to be able to help build back their lives,” Prof. Para-Mallam says.
Ladi also shared her dream of learning tailoring skills to become the best designer in her village.
“Since my only source of livelihood is threatened, I don’t have any other means to provide for my children, so I want to learn tailoring where I don’t have to visit the farm again,” Ladi says.
On his part, Prof. Odinkalu attributes the cause of the food crisis in the country to the unresolved farmer-herder crisis.
A recent report by the United Nations warned that 82 million Nigerians may go hungry by 2030, calling on the government to tackle all threats to food security/agricultural productivity.
Prof. Para-Mallam also emphasised the significance of Nigerian women in food and agriculture, considering data that estimates that women smallholder farmers constitute 37% percent of the labour force.
“Hunger has already taken hold of these communities. Food production across the country has dropped as a result of this unresolved conflict. Women are abandoning their farms, and many men have been eliminated,” she adds.
Plea for a Better Future
“We dream of a safer and better life for our children,” says Nankwat Musa*, a survivor of an attack in Mangu.
Nankwat recounted how her husband lost his life in the attack.
“I was shot in the leg while trying to protect my children. I’m limping today because of the injury. This experience will live with me forever,” the mother of two narrates, her voice filled with pain.
While pleading with the government to protect her people, she adds: “My village is my only home—I have nowhere else to go.”
In the same vein, Hannatu Gyang*, who endured the loss of her husband during one of the attacks in Barakin Ladi, urged security forces to protect women from the ongoing sexual violence in her community.
“We go to the farm in groups out of fear of being raped. We just hope things will change someday,” she says.
She urged the government to investigate the hidden war that places women and girls at the centre of the conflict.
“We pray our children will be spared from the horrors we’ve witnessed,” Hanatu whispers.
*Disclaimer: [no real names were used] sources pleaded to remain anonymous. To ensure anonymity, certain elements of survivor stories may be generalised. Names, locations, identifying characteristics, or any specific details that may potentially reveal the survivor’s identity are altered or omitted deliberately.
This report was facilitated by the Africa Centre for Development Journalism (ACDJ) as part of its 2024 Inequalities Reporting Fellowship supported by the MacArthur Foundation through the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.
