Gunmen suspected as bandits massacred over 50 residents in attacks on Zurak and Bankalala villages in Plateau State, Nigeria. Houses razed, and vigilantes were killed as survivors fled the devastated communities. Security forces pursue perpetrators amid lingering fear and insecurity in the region.
A thick pall of fear has descended upon communities in Plateau State's Wase local government area after suspected bandits unleashed a night of terror, massacring more than 50 residents in the villages of Zurak and Bankalala on Monday evening.
According to accounts from witnesses and local leaders, the attackers, described as arriving by motorcycle in pairs with sophisticated weaponry, opened fire indiscriminately around 7 pm as villagers went about their daily activities. Homes were razed as the rampaging gunmen showed no mercy, cutting down victims that included vigilante groups who tried to fend them off.
"The bandits arrived at the community on motorcycles - two to a bike - armed with sophisticated weapons and started shooting sporadically at everyone on sight," recounted Sahpi'i Sambo, a youth leader from the area. "More than 40 people were killed while many others were injured. Residents of the village have fled to neighboring communities."
While initial tolls put the death count at 40, traditional ruler Alhaji Ahmed Lawal grimly confirmed the mounting casualties had reached at least 50 by Tuesday, with the victims swiftly buried according to Muslim rites. Many more were injured in the onslaught.
The twin villages now lie virtually deserted as survivors fled the scene of the massacres, seeking safety amid the burn-outs and utter devastation left behind. "As of yesterday, security personnel had not yet arrived at the community. It was a deadly attack," Sambo said.
Officials like Daniel Manwan, the information officer for Wase local government, corroborated reports of over 30 slain in Bankalala, where he said state security operatives from the Directorate of State Services managed to pursue and neutralize three of the marauding bandits in nearby Zurak village.
"As I speak to you the entire villages are deserted for fear of the unknown," Manwan told LEADERSHIP.
Bloodshed has become grimly routine across embattled Plateau communities over the past decade. In January alone, a coordinated series of assaults across more than 20 villages left nearly 300 residents dead, highlighting the brazen threat posed by the well-armed criminal militias.
As authorities weighcommense response to the latest mass killings, the incidents have only deepened the aura of danger paralyzing daily life in the region. The state government had yet to issue any statement on the twin village attacks at the time of this report's filing, while requests for comment from the Plateau police command's public relations unit went unanswered.
