How Cameroonian bandits killed five UN, Nigerian officials

Adamawa State Commissioner of Land and Survey, Ibrahim Mijinyawa has attributed the death of five officials on UN team on Tuesday to inadequate security escort.

The commissioner spoke when he paid condolence visit on the families of Zakari Bakari, an assistant Surveyor General with the Ministry who was among the victims.

The five slain officials were attacked by suspected bandits while on a trip to Koncha area in Cameroon for border demarcation exercise as a result of the International Court of Justice ruling that ceded some Nigerian communities to Cameroon.

He explained that the two gendarme security men attached to the UN team had engaged the suspected bandits in gun battle when a second group of gunmen attacked the visiting officials, killing all of them.

“We were told that the bandits came in two groups, and two Cameroonian gendarmes attached to the team engaged the first group in battle and chased them away. The second group came from behind and attacked the officials,” he stated, adding, “According to information we had, security was attached to the team, but not enough.”

A family source indicated that the travelling bags containing the late surveyor Zakari Bakari’s personal belongings were not looted and were delivered to the family.

A security man who saw four of the five corpses of the victims said all of them were shot while the late assistant surveyor suffered deep machete cut to his face in addition to bullet wounds.