No fewer than 20 security operatives and vigilantes have been brutally murdered by heavily armed bandits who ambushed a joint patrol team in Wanka and surrounding communities of the Garga area in the Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau State.
This was revealed by the Kanam Development Association (KADA) in a statement released on Saturday in Dengi, Kanam Local Government Area, Plateau State, and signed by its Chairman, Garba G. Aliyu, and Secretary, ND Shehu Kanam.
According to the group. twelve security professionals, including two senior military commanders, and eight vigilante members who were helping security forces defend the villages were among the victims.
The statement claims that at around 2:00 p.m. on Friday, hundreds of heavily armed bandits ambushed the patrol team, which was composed of military personnel and local vigilantes, while they were travelling in two vehicles on routine security operations across the communities of Garga, Kyaram, and Gyambau on their way to Wanka.
“In the unfortunate exchange of gunfire that followed the ambush, our nation lost brave defenders who paid the ultimate price in the line of duty,” the statement read.
KADA denounced the killing, further describing it “deeply painful and unacceptable,” pointing out that they perished while protecting rural areas that have long been the target of frequent attacks by these bandits.
According to the association, the bandits allegedly invaded the Kyaram community following the ambush, stealing houses valued at millions of naira and stealing many of the locals’ cattle.
KADA cautioned that the occurrence was not unique, emphasising that for the previous three to four years, people near Garga, Kyaram, Gyambau, and nearby localities situated along the borders of Plateau, Taraba, and Bauchi states have been subjected to ongoing attacks, kidnappings, and livestock rustling.
The group therefore called on the local, Plateau state government and federal governments to urgently intervene to prevent further bloodshed in the affected communities.
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