March 13, (THEWILL)- At least 15 passengers, including women and children, have been reported missing following an attack on an 18-seater bus heading from Zaki/Biam in Benue State to Maihura in Bali Local Government Area of Taraba State, on Tuesday.
The heavily armed men suspected to be the Vigilante Group attacked the bus at Gamkwe Village, located at Maraban-Baisa in Donga Local Government Area of the state.
The driver of the bus, Mpuuga Mbaave, who escaped the scene of the incident with machete wounds, told newsmen that the armed Vigilante Group were in large numbers with guns, machetes and other light arms.
“I loaded 18 passengers from Zaki/Biam. Immediately after Maraba, I saw many people in Vigilante Group uniforms, they were many and I suspected something was wrong, I then stopped but one of the villagers told me that I should go saying two members of the Vigilante Group were killed by kidnappers, that was why they gathered, that there is no problem, I should proceed.
“As I moved closer, some of the Vigilante Group started shouting, killing all of them. It’s their people that killed our members, they started attacking the passengers and cutting them with machetes.
“They removed all of us, forced us to lie facedown, my bus was still on. When I discovered that it was getting out of hand, I decided to jump up onto the bus and left the passengers, my conductor also followed me, all of us were cut with machetes and blood was rushing out of our bodies, that was how we escaped and left the passengers in their hands”, Mpuuga recounted.
Chairman of Doonga Local Government Council, Ezra Voka, who confirmed the incident, said he was in the nearby forest in search of the victims.
“I’m already in the bush in search of the missing people, we can’t talk much now till when I get more information from here”, the LG chairman said.
