adsViolence in Plateau State, long linked to farmer-herder clashes, is increasingly being driven by a growing battle for control of mineral resources, farmlands and key food supply routes, as armed groups tighten their hold on resource-rich communities across Nigeria’s North-Central region.
According to a recent report by SBM Intelligence, across Plateau’s mineral-rich communities, violence is no longer only forcing residents from their homes; it is also redrawing ownership and access to lucrative mining pits, agricultural land and commercial corridors that sustain local economies worth millions of naira.
Recent attacks across Barkin Ladi, Riyom, Wase, Bokkos and Mangu have left scores dead, displaced thousands of residents and disrupted both farming and artisanal mining activities, raising concerns among security analysts that armed groups are gradually embedding themselves within resource-rich territories.
Plateau, today, is rich in tin, columbite, zinc and gemstones, resources that analysts say are increasingly shaping patterns of violence.
In February this year, no fewer than 37 miners reportedly died after exposure to toxic gas at a mining site in Wase Local Government Area. Months earlier, at least 12 persons were killed during an attack on a mining site in Barkin Ladi, underscoring growing insecurity around extraction zones.adsads
