We propose a scheme to demonstrate the existence of optical Peregrine rogue waves and Akhmediev and Kuznetsov-Ma breathers and realize their active control via electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). The system we suggest is a cold, $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$-type three-level atomic gas interacting with a probe and a control laser fields and working under EIT condition. We show that, based on EIT with an incoherent optical pumping, which can be used to cancel optical absorption, (1+1)-dimensional optical Peregrine rogue waves, Akhmediev breathers, and Kuznetsov-Ma breathers can be generated with very low light power. In addition, we demonstrate that the Akhmediev and Kuznetsov-Ma breathers in (2+1)-dimensions obtained can be actively manipulated by using an external magnetic field. As a result, these breathers can display trajectory deflections and bypass obstacles during propagation.