Lone Survivor Recounts Horror as Gunmen Kill Nine in Plateau Bus Ambush

What should have been a routine evening trip turned into a massacre on Sunday night when gunmen opened fire on a commercial bus at Dungus Junction in Kuru, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State, killing nine people—eight passengers and the driver—and leaving the vehicle riddled with bullet holes and stained with blood.

Nasiru Garba, the bus conductor and sole survivor, has described how he escaped death by dropping low inside the vehicle as the attackers closed in. The incident occurred as the Jos-bound Toyota bus (registration BUU 621 ZL) stopped by the roadside around 9:30–9:40 p.m. to drop five passengers. After the passengers alighted, the driver, identified as Ibrahim, stepped out to collect their fares.

Garba was standing near the front of the bus when the driver returned and opened the door. Suddenly, gunfire erupted. “Immediately the driver opened the door to enter, the gunmen opened fire on those passengers who had alighted,” Garba recounted. “All the passengers that had already alighted, the remaining passengers in the bus, and the driver died. Immediately I heard the gunshots, I bent down in the vehicle.”

The attackers approached, opened the front door, and searched the vehicle and Garba. They took the money he was carrying and his mobile phone, which was charging inside. Throughout the operation they said nothing. Garba deliberately avoided looking at their faces. He had been on the job for only four days.

Community sources and the Berom Youth Moulders confirmed the attack. Spokesman Rwang Tengwong said the victims were travelling to Jos when the gunmen struck.

Among the dead was a member of Operation Rainbow. Some passengers sustained gunshot wounds and were rushed to hospital; a number later died of their injuries. A neighbour, Lawan Suleiman, identified the driver as his former student and said three of the victims were from Bukuru. Bodies were deposited at a hospital as families prepared for burial.

One report named several of the victims as Mafeng Dangana (25), Victoria Ishaku (47), Joy Felix (25), Precious Dabere (23), Isaac Gyang (20), Usaini Badamasi (20), Ibrahim Bala (28), Evelyn Micha and Esther Iliya.

Plateau State Police Command later confirmed the attack. Police Public Relations Officer Alfred Alabo said a distress call was received about gunmen operating on a motorcycle intercepting the bus. Seven people were found dead at the scene; two more died in hospital, bringing the toll to nine. Commissioner of Police Ayodeji Faniyan deployed Mobile Police units, tactical teams, homicide detectives and forensic experts. An earlier ban on motorcycle operations in parts of the state remains in force.

The Dungus Junction ambush was one of several deadly incidents reported across Plateau that weekend. In Vodni, Pushit District of Mangu Local Government Area, suspected attackers killed two people and injured four others. Two more were killed at Tahoos in Riyom Local Government Area. Altogether, the separate attacks left at least 13 dead and several injured.

The violence came against a backdrop of heightened tension. Less than 24 hours earlier, three young Fulani herders had been killed and dozens of cattle shot in Alohom community, Sabon Gari District of Mangu. Security sources noted that the earlier killings had raised fears of reprisals, though no official confirmation linked the bus attack directly to that incident.

The Plateau State Government condemned the killings in Mangu and the Kuru attack as “deeply disturbing.” In a statement by Commissioner for Information and Communication Joyce Ramnap, the government said it was working with security agencies, traditional institutions and community leaders through dialogue, intelligence sharing and engagement to strengthen security. Residents, especially those in affected communities, were urged to remain vigilant, share credible information with security agencies, and refrain from retaliatory attacks that could worsen the situation. Peace, the statement reaffirmed, remains a major priority under Governor Caleb Mutfwang.

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Chief of Army Staff Lt.-Gen. Waidi Shaibu visited the headquarters of 3 Division and Operation Enduring Peace in Jos the day after the bus attack. He reviewed the security situation with the General Officer Commanding and directed troops to sustain pressure on criminal elements and consolidate peace across the state.

The bloodstained, bullet-riddled bus at Dungus Junction has once again highlighted the dangers facing travellers on Plateau roads, particularly at night. Families of the nine victims are left to mourn those who never completed their journey home.