Four days into his new job as a commercial bus conductor, Garba found himself lying on the floor of a vehicle as gunmen opened fire, killing the driver and passengers around him.
The young conductor had set out to do what he had only recently started doing—help ferry passengers to Jos and earn a living.
Instead, the journey turned into a deadly ambush.
Garba said he survived by keeping his head down as the attackers approached the bus after opening fire.
“Immediately I heard the gunshots, I bent down in the vehicle. The attackers approached the bus and opened the front door,” he recalled.
He said the gunmen searched him and took the money he had and the phone he was charging.
“They collected all the money with me and my phone that was being charged. They didn’t talk while carrying out the act, and I didn’t look at their faces,” he said.
But while Garba remained hidden, others in the vehicle were not as fortunate.
He said the driver and passengers who remained in the bus were killed in the attack.
The incident occurred around 9.40pm as the vehicle was travelling towards Jos.
For Garba, the horror came just four days after he started the job.
“I am new on the job. This was just my fourth day working as a bus conductor,” he said.
The account offers a grim picture of how insecurity has turned ordinary journeys and livelihoods into potentially deadly encounters for residents of Plateau.
The Berom Youth Moulders spokesman, Rwang Tengwong, confirmed the attack, saying several passengers were killed while others sustained gunshot wounds.
He said some of the injured victims were taken to hospitals, where some reportedly later died.
Tengwong added that one of those killed was a member of Operation Rainbow.
A resident, Musa Dauda, said the commercial bus was later found riddled with bullets and stained with blood.
The Kuru attack was followed by other reported killings in Plateau.
In Mangu Local Government Area, suspected terrorists reportedly attacked Vodni in Pushit District, killing two people and injuring four others.
Two more people were reportedly killed at Tahoos in Riyom Local Government Area in a separate attack.
Reacting to the incidents, the Plateau State Government condemned the killings and said it was working with security agencies, traditional institutions and community leaders to strengthen security across the state.
The Commissioner for Information and Communication, Joyce Ramnap, urged residents to remain vigilant and provide security agencies with credible information.
She also appealed against reprisal attacks, warning that further violence could undermine efforts to restore peace.
For Garba, however, the immediate challenge is more personal: returning to a job that, only four days after he began it, brought him face-to-face with death.
