No fewer than 20 security personnel and local vigilantes were killed when heavily armed terrorists ambushed a patrol team in the Garga area of Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Our correspondent reports that the tragic incident occurred around 4pm Friday when a combined team of military personnel and vigilantes, travelling in two vehicles on routine patrol across Garga, Kyaram, Gyambau, and neighbouring communities, came under heavy fire near Wanka.
According to a press statement issued Saturday by the Kanam Development Association (KADA), about 12 security personnel, including two senior military officers, lost their lives in the fierce gun battle, while eight vigilante members who joined forces to defend their communities also paid the supreme price.
While some terrorists were reportedly neutralised during the exchange, the attackers later stormed Kyaram community, looting property worth millions of naira and rustling a large number of cattle from innocent residents.
The Kanam group described the attack as part of a prolonged wave of insecurity that has plagued the border communities linking Plateau with Taraba and Bauchi states for over three to four years.
