THE Air Components of Operations Whirl Punch and Delta Safe on Saturday knocked out terrorists’ hideouts in the Niger and Niger Delta states.
The director of public relations and information at the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Edward Gabkwet, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, April 28.
The ICIR reports the Niger Delta has been notorious for age-long illegal oil bunkery.
In the statement on Sunday, Gabkwet said air strikes were executed against economic saboteurs siphoning crude oil from mutilated pipelines, destroying the environment and ecosystem of the state.
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According to him, the surveillance of Ke (Kalabari), Egbema, Akaso Krakama, Krikama, and the military council valley revealed a fleet of illegal refining sites that were effectively destroyed.
He hinted that a Cotonou boat fully loaded with crude oil was also observed at Akaso Krakama, which was about to depart southwards and was destroyed.
“At Krikama, several cooking sites were observed and destroyed as well. In all, 18 illegal refining sites and three Cotonou boats were destroyed.”
In the Niger state, Gabkwet said similar air strikes hit the enclaves of notorious terrorist kingpin Mallam Umar and several other commanders located in Alawa Forest in the Shiroro area of Niger state, following intelligence surveillance targeted at the location.
The terrorist enclaves include clusters of huts amidst dense vegetation, with a significant presence of armed terrorists, he said.
The NAF spokesperson explained that the terrorists were responsible for the recent attacks on ground troops at Bassa in Plateau State and the detonation of multiple improvised explosive devices (IED) along the Pandogari-Alawa road in Shiroro.
“Accordingly, the Air Component promptly deployed its air assets to decisively eliminate the terrorists, resulting in effective and maximum damage to the targets.
“A post-strike Battle Damage Assessment later confirmed the neutralisation of several of the terrorists and the destruction of their hideouts, with positive consequences on their ability to attack surface forces as well as innocent civilians within the area,” Gabkwet said.
He said air strikes had substantially weakened the potency of terrorist elements in the Northwest and oil thieves in the Niger Delta regions.
The statement added that NAF would continue collaborating with other security agencies through extensive situational awareness patrols and targeted interdiction of criminals’ safe havens.
On February 12, The ICIR reported an attack by suspected gunmen in two villages of the Miango district of Bassa Local Government Area (LGA) of Plateau State that led to the death of about four people.