Vigilante dies 2 days after encounter with bandits near FCT

A vigilante member, Tukur Bala, has died from gunshot injuries sustained during an encounter with bandits at Kpada village, near Kuti community, which borders the FCT and Niger State. A member of the local vigilante group, Dogora Samson, said Bala and some colleagues came under attack on Thursday night after bandits invaded a Fulani settlement […]

A vigilante member, Tukur Bala, has died from gunshot injuries sustained during an encounter with bandits at Kpada village, near Kuti community, which borders the FCT and Niger State.

A member of the local vigilante group, Dogora Samson, said Bala and some colleagues came under attack on Thursday night after bandits invaded a Fulani settlement in Kpada to rustle cows.

He said the vigilante team, alongside two others from Kuti village, responded to a distress call and immediately mobilised on motorcycles to confront the bandits.

According to him, Bala sustained bullet wounds during an exchange of fire while trying to foil the cattle rustling. He said the injured vigilante was rushed to Gulu General Hospital, where he died on Saturday evening.

“It was at the hospital where he was receiving treatment that he passed on. His remains were taken to Kuti village, where he was buried,” Samson said.He added that the burial was attended by the Ardo of Kpada, Alhaji Garba Ali, and vigilante members from Gulu in Niger State. The Ardo, Alhaji Garba Ali, who spoke to Abuja Metro by telephone on Monday, confirmed the incident, saying Bala died after helping to foil an attack on a Fulani settlement. “In fact, I was the one who alerted the vigilante members after receiving information that bandits attempted to attack a Fulani camp. One of them sustained gunshot injuries and later died at Gulu General Hospital,” he said.

A police source at the Kpada division, who preferred anonymity, also confirmed the incident, saying some officers escorted the injured vigilante to the hospital on Thursday night.

“Information later came on Saturday that he had died,” the source said.