The Taraba State Command of the Nigerian Police Force has confirmed the recovery of seven bodies of the passengers of an 18-seater bus that was attacked by bandits on Tuesday.
The bus, which left Zaki-Biam in the neighbouring Benue State, was said to have been heading to Maihula village in Taraba State when gunmen came calling.
The driver of the bus, Jimen Angera, who escaped the attack with Machete injuries, revealed that the armed men were in large number with guns, machetes and other light arms.
According to him, he fled and left the passengers with the armed men to escape.
“I loaded 18 passengers from Zaki/Biam, immediately after Maraba Donga, I saw many people in vigilante officers uniform, they were many, I suspected something was wrong, I then stopped, one of the villagers told me that I should go. Two members of the vigilante group were killed by kidnappers that is why they gathered, there is no problem I should proceed.
“As I moved closer, some of the Vigilante Group officers started shouting, kill all of them, it is their people that killed our members, they started attacking the passengers and cutting them with machetes.
“They asked all of us to step down from the vehicle, forced us to lay facedown, my bus was still on, when I discovered that it was getting out of hand, I decided to jump into 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, Angera revealed.
Confirming the recovery of the bodies on Wednesday, the Taraba State Commissioner of Police, David Iloyonomon, said his men found seven bodies in the bush within the area while on patrol to control the crisis between Ichen and Tiv.
He disclosed that the conflict arose on March 12, 2024, when young Ichen people from the Mararaba neighbourhood of Donga informed the local Police Area Command that a pastor and a member of his congregation went missing while en route to the church.
“On Tuesday, at about 3 pm, the youths found the decomposing bodies of both the pastor and the other person. That was when trouble started as the Ichen youths went into town and started attacking the Tiv residents. It took the efforts of our men to rescue some of the Tiv people to Takum for safety.
“Today, being Wednesday, while our men were on patrol to maintain law and order to ensure that peace returned, they found seven dead bodies of five women, one man and a baby. They have been evacuated to the police station,” Iloyonomon stated.
The council chairman of Donga, Ezra Voka, who described the attack as a shock, said his men, in collaboration with the security agencies, are presently in the bush searching for the remaining victims.
The council boss, who confirmed that the incident took place in a nearby forest within the council, said they will not relent until the remaining victims are rescued alive.
The heavily armed men were suspected of having attacked the bus at Gamkwe village, at Maraban-Baisa in Donga Local Government Council, while the driver was heading to its final destination in Maihula village in Bali Local Government Council.
