There is pandemonium in the camps of terrorists and bandits in the Nortwest States of Zamfara and Katsina as Nigerian Air Force (NAF) airstrikes bombard their camps, logistics bases, killing over 50 of criminal leaders and fighters.
The bombardments have been “aggressive and intense” in Zamfara State in the last one week and has dovetailed to the logistics base set up by the criminals in Kaduna State at Kawara Forest in Igabi Local Government Area (LGA) of the State.
A source noted that NAF helicopter gunships had intercepted a large gathering of the terror bandits dressed in black clothes with rustled cattle around Kawara Village in Giwa LGA and “on sighting the aircraft, the bandits ran and hid in between the cattle, while navigating their movement. After clustering at a water crossing point, the bandits were struck in successive passes by the aircraft.
“Some casualties that were spotted to be struggling to scamper for safety were also successfully neutralized by the aircraft. A reverse trail back to their initial departure point revealed a possible logistics base which was also struck until it went into flames.
“Sources on the ground at Kawara on Monday confirmed that at least 50 dead bodies of the bandits were counted while their motorcycles and food items were destroyed at the camps during the attack.”
In Zamfara State, many of the bandits’ leaders and foot soldiers terrorizing the area were killed by airstrikes and ground troops as the blockage of communication and restriction of movement in the State had stifled their movements and operations.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had last week mandated all telecommunication operators in the country to stop extending services to Zamfara and its environs, effective Friday, September 3, 2021.
This was barely six months after the federal government declared Zamfara State a ‘no-fly zone’ in a renewed effort to fight banditry and other forms of insecurity in the State.
Governors Bello Mohammed Matawalle (Zamfara), Aminu Bello Masari (Katsina), Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), and Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger) had in separate directives around the same time called for restrictions of movement and some economic activities in frontline areas in their states.
Hundreds of people have been killed by the terror bandits in the four states and their fortunes destroyed during raids.
Business activities including farming were also crippled, making life difficult for people amid poverty and deprivation.
The State Governors had taken different measures to stem the tide, including publicly calling out the federal government. The recent restrictions of movement among other measures had been viewed as extreme in some quarters but the governors said it was a bitter pill that must be swallowed.
There is evidence already that the terrorists bandits are being squeezed as they are instigating the local communities in Zamfara and Katsina State to stage protests against the decision taken by the Zamfara State governments to lockdown areas of the State and close the markets.
Governor Matawalle said on Monday that bandits are being forced to release people under their captivity because they cannot feed them after they were denied access to food, fuel and means of communication, disclosed on Monday.
Matawalle, who spoke to Deutsche Welle Radio, said people that have spent weeks or months in captivity have returned to their homes and armed criminals are abandoning their motorbikes after they ran out of fuel.
“The chief of Army Staff was in the State to assess the operations. Troops and the local vigilantes are currently beginning to reach out to the armed criminals in their hideouts inside forests,” the governor said.
According to him, “Aggressive military operation is ongoing. All their camps would be dismantled one by one and we are recording massive success.
“I am not going anywhere; I will remain in the state throughout these operations. I must share the pains of the disruption of the telecommunication services with the good people of the state.
“As you can see, checkpoints have been mounted after every five kilometres throughout the State so that no criminal would escape,” he said.
