Gunmen Kill 3 Vigilantes As 4 Miners Die In Plateau Pit Collapse

Seven persons have been killed in separate incidents in Plateau State as gunmen ambushed three Mwaghavul vigilantes in Mangu local government area, while four suspected illegal miners died in a sand pit collapse in Bokkos local government area.

LEADERSHIP learnt that gunmen on Tuesday night ambushed and killed the vigilantes at the Kyikyau–Gyambwas boundary in Mangu Halle District of Mangu local government area.

The Mwaghavul Youth Movement (MYM) said the attack occurred at about 9:39 p.m. during the ongoing dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed by the state government in parts of the state.

The victims were identified as Samson Dachet, 45; Gambo Fwangyil, 50 and Zughumnan Bamaiyi, 35.
MYM director of Public Affairs, Tubwot Joël Sunday, who spoke to our correspondent, condemned the attack and called for an immediate review of the curfew arrangement in Mangu.

According to him, the victims were among residents keeping watch over their community when they were ambushed.

In a separate incident, four suspected illegal miners died in the collapse of a sand excavation pit at Tangur community in Bokkos council.

A resident, Maren Jacob, told newsmen that the incident occurred at about 2:20 p.m. on Tuesday.
Jacob said the victims were engaged in sand excavation along a river line in the community when the pit collapsed on them.

According to him, the bodies were recovered by their relatives for burial rites.

Efforts to get reactions from the spokesman of the Plateau State Police Command, DSP Alfred Alabo, were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.