No fewer than 70 vigilantes have been killed in a clash with bandits at Kukawa and Bunyun communities of Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Residents of the communities said that the clash happened Monday at about 2pm when hundreds of vigilantes from Wase Local Government Area were ambushed while on their way to the bandits’ hideouts.
The Chairman of the vigilante group in Kukuwa, Aliyu Baffa, told journalists that “over 70 vigilantes were killed” in the ambush, adding that more bodies could be recovered in the bushes around as they were still searching.
He said that the clash occurred just a kilometre away from Kukawa town, when bandits ambushed the vigilantes as they were heading to the hideouts at Government Forest Reserve which shares borders with Bauchi and Taraba States.
Baffa added that the remains of some of the vigilantes were recovered from farmlands after the clash, saying: “We have buried more than 60 of the 70 bodies in Kukawa alone. It’s likely that more bodies could be recovered.Some of the vigilantes who escaped confirmed that they were overwhelmed by the bandits.”
A resident of Bunyun, Musa Ibrahim, who also confirmed the clash, said that the bandits also attacked the community and killed 10 vigilantes, who were providing security in the area, adding that they also burned many houses in the community.
The state Governor, Caleb Muftwang, had raised the alarm over the high wave of insecurity in the state, lamenting that bandits have taken over 64 communities.
He had set up a fact-finding committee, which is currently working to proffer lasting solutions to the menace.
Several stakeholders in the state have described the attacks as acts of genocide and land grabbing.
