Bandits on Monday ambushed and killed over 70 members of a vigilante group at the Kukawa and Bunyun communities of Kanam Local Government Area, Plateau State.
The Chairman of the vigilante group in Kukawa, Aliyu Baffa, while confirming the incident to newsmen, said the surprise attack on his team happened when a combined team of vigilantes in Wase LGA were on their way to identify bandits’ hideouts.
According to him, the bandits who were armed with sophisticated weapons ambushed and attacked the team on their way and opened fire on the them, killing over 70 persons on the spot.
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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
