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By Ayo Kehinde
Border communities in Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau State are under siege following a deadly ambush by heavily armed gunmen of a joint patrol team, resulting in the deaths of no less than 20 local security personnel and vigilantes.
The attack occurred around 4pm on Friday in the Garga area, when a combined patrol team comprising military personnel and local vigilantes, traveling in two vehicles on a routine patrol through Garga, Kyaram, Gyambau and nearby communities, came under heavy gunfire near Wanka.
A statement jointly signed by Kanam Development Association (KADA) President Barr on Saturday. Garba Aliyu and secretary Shehu Kanam said at least 12 security personnel, including two senior military officers, were killed during the fierce firefight, while eight vigilantes who had joined the patrol to defend their communities also lost their lives.
The association said that although some of the attackers were neutralized during the exchange, the gunmen then advanced into Kyaram community where they looted properties worth millions of naira and stole a large number of livestock belonging to the residents.
KADA described the incident as part of a prolonged wave of insecurity affecting border communities linking Plateau with Taraba and Bauchi states, stressing that the areas have suffered repeated terrorist attacks, cattle rustling, kidnapping and property destruction over the past three to four years.
The group expressed deep sorrow at the loss of life and condemned what it described as the continued freedom with which terrorists operate in the volatile border corridor. He called on the Kanam Local Government Council, Plateau State Government and the Federal Government to urgently deploy additional military and security personnel to Garga, Kyaram, Gyambau, Wanka and surrounding communities.
KADA also called for the establishment of permanent security outposts in affected border communities to stem growing insecurity.
“We call for increased coordinated operations along the Plateau-Taraba-Bauchi border corridor and humanitarian aid for the victims who have lost their homes, livelihoods and livestock,” the statement read, adding that the affected communities are peaceful and law-abiding citizens, whose main occupations are agriculture and livestock husbandry, stressing that the residents only seek a safe environment in which to live and contribute to national development.
The group also expressed its condolences to the Nigerian Armed Forces, families of fallen soldiers and vigilantes, and grieving communities, urging authorities to treat the crisis as both a humanitarian and national security emergency.
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