Seven persons have been confirmed dead following a night attack on an illegal mining site at Capitex, Kuru community, Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State, the Nigerian Army has said.
The attack occurred at about 1:00 a.m on Thursday when suspected armed bandits stormed the site with the intention of carting away illegally mined minerals.
Troops of Sector 6, Operation Safe Haven, were alerted to the incident at about 8:40 a.m. by a local resident and immediately mobilised to the area to restore normalcy.
A top military source said security personnel recovered ammunition at the scene during a sweep of the area.
The source said troops discovered 10 empty cases of 7.62mm special ammunition believed to have been used by the attackers.
The bodies of the victims were evacuated to the Primary Health Care Centre in Dabwak, Kuru, for documentation and burial arrangements by their families.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the victims were engaged in illegal mining activities and had remained at the site late into the night, in violation of the Plateau State Government’s ban on illegal and night mining.
The military also revealed that the incident was reported several hours after it occurred, a delay attributed to fear of sanctions linked to the ban on night mining.
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