The 1 Division of the Nigerian Army, Kaduna, on Monday, said, “About 12” of the terrorists that attacked the Kaduna International Airport on Saturday were killed through air strike.
Briefing journalists after conducting them round the scene of the incident, the Garrison Commander of the Division, Brig-Gen. Uriah Opuene, said, preliminary investigations revealed that the bandits were just passing through the back of the Airport.
Opuene said the terrorists were heading towards Riyawa village, when they sighted (and killed) the security man engaged by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to watch over their metrological equipment around the axis.
Opuene stated, “As you can see, this place is about six kilometres away from the airport terminal. The bandits were only passing behind the airport perimeter fence, when they saw the security man engaged by NAMA and they fired at him. They just took advantage of that to pass a message that they have attacked the airport.
“There are several layers of security at the airport, this is the first layer and even this first layer was not breached, because from the moment of hearing that shot, it took our men just about three minutes to get here from the next layer of security.
“On arrival, the bandits were already running away, so we engaged them through the use of ground forces. Then, we called for air strike and an helicopter was deployed and from the air report, about 12 of the bandits were killed.”
Speaking further, the Garrison Commander, who was in company with the Kaduna Air Force Base Commander, Air Commodore Ademuyiwa Adedoyin and the Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, dismissed reports that the bandits took over the airport.
Aruwan said, “So, as you can see from the distance, the insinuation that the terrorists took over the airport is not correct. If the terrorists had entered, they would have met us there,” the Garrison Commander said
He maintained that there were several layers of security at the Airport, stressing that bandits could not have dared to attack it.
Speaking also, NAF Base Commander, Air Commodore Adedoyin, said security around the airport area generally had been beefed up since the security breach at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) last year, adding that bandits didn’t have the audacity to attack Kaduna Airport.
Aruwan said the state government was engaging communities around the airport to scale up intelligence gathering, and that there was no threat to the immediate vicinity of the airport, because the military was ahead of the terrorists.
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