According to a recent report by journalists, about 15 persons, including women and children, have been missing after armed men suspected to be vigilante personnel attacked an 18-seater bus transporting commuters from Zaki/Biam in Benue State to Maihura, Bali Local Government Area of Taraba State on Tuesday, March 12, 2024.
It was gathered that the incident occurred at Gankwe village along the Donga- Mararaban-Baissa axis in the Donga Local Government Area of the state.
Recounting the incident to newsmen on the phone, the driver of the bus, Mr. Mpuuga Mbaave, who escaped death by the whiskers with machete cut wounds, revealed that the criminals in vigilante uniform attacked his bus.
I conveyed 18 persons from Zaki/Biam in Benue State to Maihura,Taraba state precisely, and on our way close to Mararaba, I saw numerous persons in Vigilante uniforms. I suspected something was wrong, so I parked the vehicle.
A local who was passing by told me that I should proceed. Noting that, two members of the Vigilante personnel were killed by abductors, and the vigilante came to carry their remains.
As I moved closer, some of the Vigilante personnel began to scream ‘kill all of them,’ kill all of them,’ it’s their people (Tiv) that murdered our members, and they began to attack the occupants of the bus, cutting them with machetes.
“They directed the commuters out of the bus, forcing them to lie facedown. I refused to come down, but when I noticed that it was getting out of hand, I managed to jump out of the bus and flee. My conductor too followed me. They attacked us, cutting us with a machete, but we fled for our dear lives,” he stressed.
Reacting to the incident, Hon. Ezra Voka, Chairman of Doonga Local Government Council, affirmed that he was already in the nearby forest searching for the missing persons.
He added, We cannot talk much now until I get more information from here.
