“THE MASSACRE AT ZIKE BASSA LOCAL GOVERNMENT”

DESITDOWN DOCUMENTARY

THE DAY ZIKE BLED

Zike Community | Bassa Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria | April 2023 — Never Forgotten

A Desitdown Documentary Production | #Zike #Desitdown #Never Forget

DOCUMENTARY OVERVIEW

Title	Zike: The Bloodshed Remembered
Production	Desitdown Documentary
Location	Zike Community, Bassa LGA, Plateau State, Nigeria
Subject	The April 2023 Communal Attack & Its Aftermath
Format	On-Site Documentary — Survivor Interviews, Memorial Visit & Community Relief
Casualties	52 confirmed dead; hundreds displaced and injured
Cause	Ethnic & religious tensions; land disputes between farming and herding communities
Platform	YouTube —@Desitdown news

THE ZIKE BLOODSHED

The Zike bloodshed refers to the tragic attack that occurred in April 2023 in Zike village, Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria. In the early hours of the morning, armed assailants invaded the community, killing men, women, and children in one of the most devastating episodes of communal violence the region had witnessed in recent years. The attack was linked to long-standing ethnic and religious tensions, as well as disputes over land ownership between farming and herding communities. Official records confirmed 52 deaths names now etched in gold on a marble memorial. Hundreds more were forced to flee their ancestral homes, creating a massive humanitarian need for shelter and medical aid. Beyond those killed, many survivors sustained severe injuries, including burn wounds, requiring urgent medical attention that was often unavailable in the immediate aftermath. The massacre shocked Plateau State and drew renewed calls for stronger conflict resolution mechanisms in Nigeria. Beyond the loss of lives, the incident left survivors displaced, traumatised, and economically devastated. Properties homes, vehicles, and livelihoods were burned to the ground. The Zike tragedy remains a painful reminder of the consequences of unresolved communal conflicts and the urgent need for justice, reconciliation, and effective security to prevent future violence.

“The Zike tragedy remains a painful reminder of the consequences of unresolved communal conflicts and the urgent need for justice, reconciliation, and effective security.”

— Desitdown Documentary, 2025

SCENE 1—THE CREW ON LOCATION: BEARING WITNESS

The Desitdown documentary crew arrived in Zike community, setting up equipment amid the visible remnants of destruction scorched earth, scattered rubble, and the quiet that follows catastrophe. The crew came not as outsiders, but as witnesses committed to ensuring the world would not forget what happened here. Two members of the production team are seen preparing to film against the backdrop of ruined homesteads. Their presence in Zike represents a choice: to turn a camera toward forgotten communities and to let survivors speak.

Desitdown documentary crew sets up camera equipment at the Zike community site — reporter identities protected.

SCENE 2—THE MEMORIAL: NAMES THAT MUST NOT BE FORGOTTEN

The Desitdown crew arrived at the memorial site erected in honour of the 52 victims of the April 2023 massacre. Engraved on a marble plaque under the heading “In Loving Memory Of The 52 Persons Killed at Zike on April 14, 2023” are the names of every recorded victim men, women, and children who lost their lives that night. The sight of so many names on a single slab is a stark and haunting testament to the scale of the tragedy. A community member guided the crew through the memorial, pointing to names and recounting who each person was a father here, a mother there, a 3-year-old boy in the same column as a 49-year-old man. The memorial stands not just as a record of death, but as a demand for remembrance.

The Zike memorial monument — “In Loving Memory Of: The 52 Persons Killed at Zike on April 14, 2023.” Two men pause to read the names of the fallen.

Close-up of the Zike memorial plaque — names etched in gold include Reuben Adamu (4 yrs), Dogara Adamu (3 yrs), Bulus Moses (26 yrs), Stephen John (7 yrs), and many more.

SCENE 3—THE DESTRUCTION: WHAT WAS LEFT BEHIND

The scale of destruction visited upon Zike was total. The attackers did not merely kill — they burned. Homes that families had built over decades were reduced to charred shells overnight. Vehicles that represented livelihoods were gutted by fire. The morning after the attack, Zike looked like a community that had been erased. The images that follow document the physical evidence of that destruction — buildings whose roofs caved under the heat, a keke napep reduced to bare metal — evidence that what happened in Zike was not random chaos, but deliberate and methodical violence.

AZike home with its roof collapsed and facade scorched — one of many destroyed in the attack.

An entire building reduced to rubble and twisted roofing sheets —the remains of what was once a family home.

Akeke napep (commercial tricycle) burned to its frame — a source of livelihood destroyed alongside the lives it supported.

SCENE 4—SURVIVOR TESTIMONY: "MUSA" (Farmer and Community Member)

Musa is a farmer who was present in Zike on the night of the attack. He stands before the camera with the weight of a man who has seen things no one should witness composed on the surface, haunted underneath. He is filmed both standing at the edge of what was once productive farmland, and seated in quiet reflection against the ruins of his community.

Musa (name changed) — farmer and community member, Zike village, Bassa LGA.

MUSA(V .O.) : My name is Musa. Before the attack, my life was simple. I woke up early, went to the farm, and came home to my family. We heard rumors warnings that something bad was coming. But we didn’t believe it would reach us. That night, I heard gunshots. Not far away. Too close. People were running in all directions. Houses were burning. I searched for my wife and children in the dark. By the time morning came, our home was gone. Some of myneighbors did not survive.

SCENE 5—SURVIVOR TESTIMONY:"ESTHER" (Mother and Trader)

At the heart of the Desitdown documentary are the survivors those who lived through the attack and carry it’s weight every single day. Esther is one such survivor. A mother and trader, she speaks first with a guarded composure then, as the memories surface, her composure breaks entirely. She is photographed standing by the mud-brick compound wall before the interview. She is also seen speaking with an older community woman a moment that captures the shared grief of a community still processing what it endured. During the filmed interview, she breaks down entirely.

Esther (name changed) — mother and trader, photographed at the village compound before the interview.

Esther in conversation with a community elder — stories and grief passed between generations of women who survived.

Esther breaks down during the filmed interview — her tears bearing witness to a grief that words alone cannot carry.

Aquiet moment between testimony — Esther pauses, eyes downcast, as the memories of the attack return.

ESTHER: I was at home with my children when the shouting started. At first, I thought it would pass. Then I heard screams. I grabbed my children and ran. We hid in the bush until morning. That night, my children did not cry. They were too afraid. When we returned days later, our house was ashes. Everything we worked for gone. Even now, my children wake up at night screaming.

SCENE 6—SURVIVOR TESTIMONY: "JOSHUA" (Youth Survivor)

Joshua was a young man at the time of the attack a student whose life was violently interrupted. He speaks in measured words, the kind of calm that comes not from peace but from years of learning to carry unbearable pain.

Joshua (name changed) — youth survivor, Zike community. Filmed on location during the Desitdown documentary production.

JOSHUA: I was supposed to be in school. Instead, I was running for my life. I saw friends scatter. Somecrossed into the bush. Some never came back. School stopped. Dreams paused. The hardest part was realizing that the place I called home was no longer safe.

SCENE 7—THE WOUNDED: THOSE WHO SURVIVED THE FLAMES

Not all victims of the Zike attack died. Some survived but carry the violence permanently on their bodies. A young woman sits on a mat outside her home her arm and shoulder bearing extensive burn wounds sustained during the attack. She received no adequate medical attention in the immediate aftermath, left to recover as best she could within the devastated community.
Her injuries are a reminder that the violence of that night did not end when the attackers left. For many survivors, the attack continued in pain, in trauma, in the inability to work or care for their families. She is one of many whose suffering remained invisible to the outside world.

⚠ VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED — ⚠ The following images contain graphic content

documenting the reality of violence.

Ayoung female survivor displays severe burn wounds to her arm and shoulder sustained during the Zike attack — she received no
formal medical treatment in the immediate aftermath.

SCENE 8—THE FALLEN: EVIDENCE OF WHAT HAPPENED IN ZIKE

Among the most difficult images to include and the most necessary are those documenting the dead. These photographs were taken in the immediate aftermath of the attack, before bodies could be identified, retrieved, or properly buried. They are not presented for shock, but for truth: because without evidence, atrocities are denied. Because those who were killed deserve to be counted. A victim lies in the open ground between compound walls. Two more victims are found in the surrounding bush, where they fled and fell. These images document what official statements often reduce to a number — 52 dead. Behind that number are individual human beings, each with a name on that memorial plaque, each with a family waiting.Her injuries are a reminder that the violence of that night did not end when the attackers left. For many survivors, the attack continued in pain, in trauma, in the inability to work or care for their families. She is one of many whose suffering remained invisible to the outside world.

⚠ VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED — ⚠ The following images contain graphic content

documenting the reality of violence.

Avictim of the Zike attack lies on the ground between compound walls — one of 52 confirmed dead. Image documented for
evidentiary record.

A victim found in the surrounding bush — evidence that many
fled the attack and were pursued.

A second victim in the bush — a visual record of the violence that
extended beyond the village boundary.

IMPACT & SIGNIFICANCE

The Desitdown documentary on Zike is more than a media production it is an act of witness. In a world where the news cycle moves fast and old tragedies are quickly buried by new ones, Desitdown chose to return to Zike and ask: what happened here, and what became of the people who survived? By placing cameras, microphones, and compassion before the survivors of one of Plateau State’s most devastating communal attacks, Desitdown has created a permanent record of testimony the kind that schools, governments, and future generations can return to when they need to understand what communal violence truly costs. The documentary also positions Desitdown as more than a sports media brand. It signals a commitment to the communities of Africa , the forgotten, the traumatised, the overlooked and reflects a belief that those with platforms have a responsibility to direct them toward stories that matter.

“Those who cannot remember the past are Condemned to repeat it. Desidown went to Zike so that the rest of us would not forget.”

—Desitdown Documentary — Zike, Bassa LGA, Plateau State, 2025

Desitdown Documentary | @Official_desitdownnews | @Desitdown_news | Zike, Bassa LGA, Plateau State, Nigeria