Armed group ambushes patrol, kills security personnel in Nigeria’s Plateau

Armed attack on patrol deepens Nigeria’s north-central security crisis

Gunmen ambushed security personnel who were on patrol in communities in Nigeria’s Plateau state, according to the state government, in an attack the authorities said happened in the Kanam area. The state government did not provide a specific casualty figure, but a local group reported that a group of security personnel, including senior officers, was killed.

The ambush took place on Friday around the Wanka, Kyaram and Gyambau communities, which are located in the Kanam area of Plateau state, according to the Associated Press report. No armed group claimed responsibility for the attack, the report said.

A local group, the Kanam Development Association (KADA), said in a statement that “20 personnel, including two senior military officers and eight local security operatives, were killed in the ambush,” according to the Associated Press. The state government, for its part, did not specify how many people were killed.

On Sunday, the Plateau state government condemned the attack and said security agencies were implementing measures to intensify surveillance and reinforce security presence across vulnerable communities. The Associated Press report said the government’s statement blamed armed bandits for repeated violence in the area.

KADA said the communities have been subjected to repeated attacks, cattle rustling, kidnappings and destruction of property for years. In a statement dated Saturday, KADA said, “For over three to four years, these communities have been subjected to repeated attacks, cattle rustling, kidnappings, and destruction of property by armed bandits who appear to operate with alarming freedom,” according to the Associated Press.

Nigeria has faced a complex security crisis involving multiple armed groups, the report said, including Islamic militant factions in the north. The most prominent of those groups include Boko Haram and a breakaway faction affiliated with the Islamic State group, known as Islamic State West Africa Province, as well as an IS-linked faction called Lakurawa.

The Associated Press report also described a wider network of armed activity that includes militants who specialize in kidnapping for ransom and other violent crimes, and said the crisis has worsened recently with the emergence of additional militants coming from the Sahel region. It cited Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, which claimed its first attack on Nigerian soil last year.

The Associated Press report said the United Nations has data showing that several thousand people in Nigeria have been killed in the broader insecurity. The report added that analysts have said the government has not been doing enough to protect its citizens.

In a sign of foreign involvement in Nigeria’s fight against insecurity, the report said the United States has sent troops to the West African nation to help advise its military.