2022 Kajuru killings

On 5 June 2022, an attack attributed to alleged Fulani militants struck four villages in the Kajuru area of Kaduna State, Nigeria — Ugwan Gamu, Dogon Noma, Ungwan Sarki, and Maikori — resulting in the deaths of 32 civilians. According to local accounts, the region had previously experienced attacks by Fulani militiamen, and shortly before this incident bandits had abducted 14 people from a train station in the nearby town of Idon, also within the Kajuru area.

Residents reported that the attack began around noon, when approximately 450 militants riding around 150 motorcycles stormed Dogon Noma and Ungwan Gamu. The attackers burned homes and forced residents out of their houses. In Maikori, some residents initially attempted to fight back against the militants after hearing news of the attack, and this resistance was reported to have initially been effective. However, locals said a white-painted helicopter, which some residents believed was arriving to help them, instead fired on villagers who were fighting back, though it reportedly did not fire on residents who were fleeing.

After killing an estimated 32 residents in Dogon Noma and Ungwan Sarki, the attackers moved to Maikori, where the population fled as their homes were burned. One person was killed in Maikori. The village of Maikori was reported to have been burned to the ground, and Ungwan Sarki was partially destroyed. The attackers were reported to have dispersed by around 6 p.m.

The Kajuru attack occurred on the same day as a separate attack on a church in Owo, Nigeria. Leaders in the Adara community, where the affected villages are located, corroborated residents' claims that a helicopter had taken part in the attack; the Nigerian government denied this claim.

In the days following the attack, the reported death toll rose from an initial count of 25 to 32 killed in Dogon Noma, as additional bodies were discovered in nearby forested areas. Of those killed, reports indicated the victims included 16 men, 5 women, and 4 children.

This case remains without any publicly reported arrests, charges, or convictions in connection with the killings, based on available source material.