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From Gyang Bere, Jos
No fewer than 12 people were killed when bandits and vigilance group clashed at Zak community in Wase Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Daily Sun gathered that the bandits invaded the community, on Monday night, to attack the people while the vigilance group resisted them, which culminated in a gun battle, leaving 12 people dead.
A youth leader in Wase, Shapi Sambo, who confirmed the killings, said the incident occurred at about 9pm, on Monday, when the villagers were preparing to go to sleep.
He said: “When the bandits invaded the community, the villagers tried to resist their attack, which led to the killing of 12 people; nine among them are bandits, three are vigilantes.”
The attack is coming one week after the killing of seven soldiers and one vigilante in the same community by bandits.
The spokesman of the Operation Safe Haven, a multi security task force maintaining peace in the state, Major Ishaku Takwa, confirmed the incident, but could not ascertain the casualty figure of the incident. He stressed that the Commander and troops, who repelled the attack, moved to Gajin Bashar community to fight the bandits who had stormed the area to attack the villagers.
The youth leader narrated that “the bandits came on motorcycles in their numbers in the morning. We suspected that they passed a night in a bush close to Zak.
“When people realised that the bandits arrived in the community, they quickly informed Operation Safe Haven stationed in Zak, and they swiftly mobilised their troops to the general area and repelled the attacks together with the vigilantes. It was a serious clash,” Shapi’i added.
Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Alfred Alabo, confirmed the incident and said the DPO in the area has not given him the details of the attack.
The House of Representatives had set up an ad hoc committee led by Hon. Fulata Hassan Abubaka visited the community last week, with the intention of calming the situation.
The Village Head of Kanpani Zurak, Alhaji Dahiru Adamu, and other traditional rulers in Wase had told the community that bandits and kidnappers had taken over the community and called on the Federal Government to take proactive measures to save the people.
