At least 70 members of a vigilante group were killed on Monday after being ambushed by bandits in the Kukawa and Bunyun communities of the Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau State.
According to Aliyu Baffa, the chairman of the Kukawa vigilante group, who verified the incident to our correspondent, the team was ambushed by the bandits while they were en route to identifying the bandits’ hideouts. Baffa described the attack as a surprise attack in which a group of vigilantes from various formations in Wase LGA ran into an ambush set up by the bandits, who then opened fire on the team, instantly killing over 70 members.
The vigilante Chairman added that by the evening of the day, they had conducted a mass burial for the deceased but feared there could still be more dead bodies in the bushes as quite a number of his members are still missing and unaccounted for.
“The clash occurred just a kilometer away from the main Kukawa town, when the bandits ambushed the vigilante team as they were heading to a bandits hideout located in the government reserve forest popularly known as Madam Forest which shares border with Bauchi and Taraba States,” Baffa said.
“We have buried more than 70 in Kukawa alone but it is likely that more bodies could be recovered from either side. Our men were overwhelmed by the bandits who carried superior weapons,” he added.
A resident of the Bunyun village, Musa Ibrahim, who also confirmed the incident in his community, said the bandits killed 10 vigilantes members who were providing security in the area, and also razed many houses in the community.
