Plateau: Over 70 vigilante members killed in deadly bandit ambush

A devastating ambush by suspected bandits has left at least 70 members of a vigilante group dead in the Kukawa and Bunyun communities of Kanam Local Government Area, Plateau State.

According to Aliyu Baffa, the chairman of the vigilante group in Kukawa, the massacre occurred on Monday when a combined team of vigilante operatives from across Wase LGA set out on a mission to track and identify the hideouts of criminal gangs terrorizing the region.

However, the operation took a tragic turn when the team unknowingly walked into a deadly ambush. Baffa recounted that the bandits, wielding sophisticated firearms, opened heavy fire on the team in a surprise attack, killing over 70 operatives on the spot.

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.