Bloodbath in Plateau: 12 dead as bandits, vigilantes clash in Wase

Twelve lost their lives after suspected bandits on Monday night clashed with vigilantes in Zak Community of Wase Local Government Area of Plateau State.

This is coming barely a week after suspected bandits were said to have killed seven military personnel and one vigilante in some communities of Bashar chiefdom in the aforementioned council of the state.

The Village Head of Kanpani Zurak, Alhaji Dahiru Adamu, and other traditional rulers in Wase revealed this information when the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee went to investigate the wonton killings, kidnappings by bandits in the council area and communities in the neighbouring state.

Narrating the incident at Zak, a youth leader in Wase, who gave his name as Sambo, said, “The incident occurred around 9 pm yesterday, and the clash left 9 of the gunmen dead, while 3 vigilantes died in the incident.

Sambo maintained that “The bandits came on motorcycles in their numbers in the morning. We suspected that they passed a night in a bush closed 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 crash, ” Shapi’ added.

When contacted, the Spokesman of the Military Taskforce responsible for the maintenance of peace in the state, code-named Operation Safe Haven (OPSH), Major Ishaku Takwa, also confirmed the incident to journalists, but could not ascertain the casualty figure.

“We are aware of an incident in Wase, but I cannot confirm any casualty.

“Our troops repelled the attack, our men moved to Gajin Bashar community after receiving distress calls of an attack, that’s all I can say for now”, he explained.