•NAF: We’re not carried away by our successes
Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
Military air strikes, yesterday, struck hideouts of terrorists in Kaduna State, killing seven terror kingpins.
But the Nigerian Air Force leadership has said it was not carried away by the successes recorded so far and would not stop until it was able to achieve the target set for itself.
A military update on the war against terrorism stated that, the air interdiction undertaken by the Air Component of Operation Whirl Punch, struck hideouts in Alhaji Ganai location, Buhari New location and Dogon Maikaji all in Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
It said the air strikes became necessary following credible intelligence from reliable sources on heightened terrorists’ activities in the general area.
“Consequently, the air strikes were authourised on December 1, 2022. After the successful strikes, it can now be confirmed that seven key terrorists kingpins, including Jibrin Gurgu, Isah Jauro and Tambuwal from Zamfara State” were neutralised.
“Other kingpins eliminated are Noti, Bala, Yunusa and Burti, who was a well-known associate of another sought after terrorist, Haladu Buharin Yadi,” it update stated.
The war update further disclosed that follow-up air interdiction missions were carried out against terrorists and enclaves in Tsofa and Riyawa in Igabi and Birnin Gwari LGA in Kaduna State.
“Feedback received also revealed that terrorists suffered heavy casualties from the ‘hell’ rained on them. These air strikes have since been corroborated by the Kaduna State Commissioner of Internal Security, Sam Aruwan, when in a press release on 2 December,2022, he stated that military air strikes identified and dislodged eight terrorists camp while freeing 10 kidnapped victims in the process,” it explained.
Spokesman of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, NAF confirmed the air strikes, and thanked Nigerians for their support to the NAF and the other security agencies, which was instrumental to the successes recorded so far.
He however, reassured that the NAF under Air Marshal Oladayo Amao would continue to provide all the air components in the various theatres the needed platforms and arsenals to enable them to curtail the enemy’s freedom of movement alongside other security agencies, while bringing them to their knees.
“The return of internally displaced persons to their ancestral homes and the surrendering of over 10,000 terrorists and members of their families especially, in the last three months in Borno State, as well as the ability of Nigerians to freely travel on the Kaduna-Abuja road and other hitherto dangerous routes are some of the signs that the efforts of the security agencies are indeed yielding some positive outcomes.
“That notwithstanding, the NAF and other agencies are not carried away by these successes but will continue to forge ahead until the end state set by higher authority is achieved,” he said.
