At least 37 people died when armed attackers descended on Angwan Rukuba, a Christian-majority community in Nigeria’s Plateau State, during the Palm Sunday period on March 29, 2026, marking one of the region’s bloodiest single incidents this year.
The violence unfolded around 8:00 p.m. as families made their way home from church services in the Jos North Local Government Area. Witnesses described a coordinated strike on a popular gathering spot, with armed men moving through the area, firing on residents and damaging homes before escaping into mountainous terrain nearby.
Initial casualty estimates ranged from six to 10 dead. But local contacts confirmed the next day that 27 bodies had been returned to the community — 14 killed at the scene and 13 who later died in hospital. Many more were wounded. Earlier that same day, gunfire at Angwa Rukuba Junction, Eto Baba and nearby student residential areas killed at least 10 additional people, according to reports from the scene.
Witnesses gave conflicting accounts of who launched the assault. One identified the gunmen as members of Boko Haram, while another insisted they were armed Fulani militia who arrived on motorcycles, fired sporadically into crowds, and disappeared into the hills. No group has claimed responsibility, and security agencies had not confirmed the attackers’ identity as of the time of reporting.
Alex Barbir, a humanitarian worker who shared a video on social media in the hours after the shooting, said the victims were Christians attacked during the Palm Sunday period. The Angwan Rukuba community is predominantly Christian, though officials acknowledged that not all of those killed shared that faith.
A Curfew and Streets in Protest
Starting at midnight on March 29 and running through March 31, the Plateau State government imposed a 48-hour curfew across parts of northern Jos. The restriction did little to quiet the anger. Residents, including groups of young people, poured into the streets, blocking roads and demanding that authorities account for yet another massacre in a state where such killings have become grimly routine.
Plateau State Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang condemned the bloodshed, stating that the state “strongly condemns this barbaric and unprovoked attack on innocent citizens and assures the public that all necessary measures are being taken to apprehend the perpetrators and bring them to justice.” The University of Jos, situated within the affected zone, postponed exams scheduled for Monday and Tuesday and advised students living near the violence to remain indoors.
Second Massacre in Kaduna State
Hours earlier in Kaduna state, gunmen killed at least 13 people in an early morning assault on Kahir village in the Kagarko Local Government Area. The victims, ranging in age from 21 to 31, had gathered for a bachelor’s party when the attackers opened fire.
Habila Markus, a resident, said several of his family members were among the dead. Authorities identified additional victims in the nearby Kadda and Kukyer communities. Others wounded in the attack were taken for medical treatment.
A Pattern That Refuses to Break
The March 29 killings landed in the middle of Holy Week — and in the middle of a pattern that has stretched across Plateau State for years. In 2025, at least 54 Christians were killed in Zikke village near Jos following Palm Sunday celebrations, with more than 100 households destroyed. On Easter Monday 2024, four people died in attacks on Njukkudel and Tangur in the Bokkos Local Government Area. Easter-period attacks in 2021 and 2022 leveled homes and drove residents from their land. In 2020, nine people — including children and a pregnant woman — were killed in Hura-Maiyanga in the Bassa Local Government Area during Holy Week.
The cycle has continued in the weeks since. Plateau State authorities filed charges against five suspects in connection with the Angwan Rukuba killings. But on May 8, 2026, gunmen attacked the Ngbra Zongo community in the Kwall District of the Bassa Local Government Area in a midnight assault that killed at least 13 residents, including pregnant women — the same Irigwe ethnic area scarred by earlier violence. The Irigwe Development Association condemned the killings.
Nigeria’s former Vice President Atiku Abubakar publicly blasted Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on May 7 over the unrelenting bloodshed in Plateau, calling the attacks “coordinated terror.” Human Rights Watch, in an April 3 report, documented the persistent insecurity and the near-total absence of accountability for those responsible.
For the families burying loved ones in Angwan Rukuba — and now in Ngbra Zongo — the questions remain the same ones that have gone unanswered for years: Who is killing them, and why they haven’t been stopped. Local partners continue to gather information as the death toll across Plateau’s farming communities climbs.