By Pascal Ibe
As outrage has continued to trail the killing of over 52 persons in Plateau communities since April 1, an X user, @CirizenObs has claimed that “Fulani terrorists” set fire to the yam market located in the Plateau state.
@CitizenObs posted an image showing a burnt yam market and attributed it to the recent attack in Plateau communities.
The X user wrote, “Fulani terrorists set fire to the yam market located in the Plateau state, Nigeria.
“Bashir Ahmad @BashirAhmaad and @Waspapping, why is this photo not trending?
“Have you all seen how the so-called Arewa influencers turn a blind eye whenever the crimes of the Fulani are mentioned?
The post has garnered over 567k views and more than 4.2k reposts, according to X analytics.
Background
The death toll in attacks by bandits in some communities in the Bokkos local government council of Plateau State rose to 52 on Friday.
The Chairman of Bokkos Cultural Development Council Vanguard, Farmasum Fuddang, who confirmed the development to journalists in Jos on Friday, said this followed the recovery of 40 more corpses on Wednesday and Thursday night while the search and rescue team kept combing the bushes for missing persons.
“31 persons were given a mass burial on Thursday, with another five underage victims burnt to ashes in Hurti village, 11 others were killed in Ruwi village, four persons were killed in Manguna, with one person killed in Dafo village”, the chairman stated.
Channels Television reports that gunmen had attacked Mangor Tamiso, Daffo, Manguna (Tagai), Hurti, and Tadai communities of Bokkos Local Government Area of the state on the night of April 2nd, 2025, and opened fire on innocent citizens.
Meanwhile, the state government said some suspects have been arrested in connection with the killing in the five communities.
Verification
A simple Google Image Reverse Search showed that this photo of the burnt yam market attributed to terrorists recently was a result of a fire outbreak in 2021. It’s unrelated.
A news report by AIT online in March 2021, stated that Namu, the Headquarters of Quaanpan Local government area of Plateau State was thrown into confusion following a fire incident which destroyed food items and other valuables worth millions of naira on Sunday Night, 28, March 2021. at the popular Namu Yam Market.
A local source in the Market, Silas Dama, who confirmed the development to ait.live said the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
He added, that over 120 person have been affected by the sad incident which destroyed food items.
A resident of the community, Joseph Dawan, who was also affected by the incident called on government at all level to come to their aide.
See the same report of the fire incident in 2021 that was published by reputable news organizations in Nigeria here and here.
Verdict
This claim is MISLEADING. The X user used a different photo of a fire incident on the Plateau Yam market in 2021 to depict the recent bandits’ attack.
