Again Bandits Kill 15 As Military Denies Attack On Kaduna Airport

No fewer than fifteen people have been reportedly killed by bandits terrorists who invaded Hayin Kanwa village in the Giwa council of Kaduna State.

The bandits, Naija News learnt have been in the community since last Thursday, and carried out their heinous operations till Sunday night.

A resident of the community according to The Nation, Alhaji Mohammed Buwala explained that the recent attack was carried out in the late hour of Sunday.

Buwala noted that the remains of the victims have been buried on Monday.

He said, “Killings and kidnapping in Giwa are getting out of hand. People are being killed and kidnapped daily. The situation is terrible because 15 more people were killed at Hayin Kanwa just yesterday (Sunday) night by bandits.

“Since Thursday, these bandits have been attacking villages, killing people,” Buwala added.

The State Police spokesman, Muhammed Jalige, however, could not be reached to confirm the incident at the time this report was given.

Meanwhile, the military authorities had yesterday cleared the air on the reported attack on the Kaduna International Airport by bandits.

The military denied the claims that the incident happened inside the airport, rather explained that the bandits operated about six kilometres away from the terminal.

Naija News understands that the state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan; Garrison Command 1 Division Nigerian Army, Brig-General Uriah Opuene and Air Force Base Commander, Air Commodore, Ademuyiwa Adedoyin on Monday led journalists to the attack scene.

Speaking at the scene, Brig-General Opuene said the international airport is protected, adding that bandits dare not attack it.

He said: “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 (Nigerian Airspace Management Agency) and 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 our arrival, the bandits were already running away, so we engaged them through the use of ground forces. Then we called for an airstrike and a helicopter was deployed and from the air report, about 12 of the bandits were killed.”

The military personnel faulted the insinuations that the terrorists took over the airport.

“If the terrorists had entered, they would have met us there,” he said.

Also speaking, NAF Base Commander, Air Commodore Adedoyin said security around the Airport general area has been beefed up since the security of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) was breached last year, adding that bandits dare not attack the Kaduna airport.

Aruwan said the state government was also engaging citizens in communities around the airport to scale up intelligence gathering, adding that there is no threat to the immediate vicinity of the airport.