• HURIWA proposes standby national guard
Strikes by the Air Component of Operation Hadarin Daji have continued to achieve results, as several terrorists have been eliminated, with their motorcycles destroyed in Katsina State.
In one of such raids carried out on the night of June 15, 2024, over 80 terrorists reportedly hibernating in a hideout at Gidan Kare Village of Ruwan Godiya Ward in Faskare Local Council of the state were confirmed neutralised, and 45 motorcycles burnt.
Airforce spokesman, Air Vice Marshal Edward Gabkwet, who confirmed the breakthrough noted that the strikes became necessary following intelligence that terrorists, numbering over 100, were reportedly burning homes at a settlement that was about five kilometres away from Gidan Kare Village.
“Overhead the village at about 8.30 p.m., several houses were observed to be on fire with the entire village in pandemonium. Moments later, 12 motor cycles were seen departing the village and trailed along a footpath out of the village to a location near Gidan Kare Village and Kuka Shidda Camp, where they joined up with a large number of their cohorts.
“Other terrorists were also observed arriving the location from different directions, an indication that the location was a massing up point with the terrorists likely planning to further attack nearby villages.
“Having been presented such a rare opportunity, authorisation was sought, obtained and the location was immediately struck at exactly 9.40 p.m., with over 80 terrorists confirmed eliminated and about 45 motorcycles burnt down, while few surviving terrorists were observed fleeing or limping off.
“Further intelligence received after the strike also revealed that the terrorists were closely linked with notorious terrorist kingpin Yusuf Yellow, and his close associate Rabe Imani. These strikes, along with others before now, have no doubt disrupted terrorist activities in the area.
“Meanwhile, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, has commended the efforts of the Air Component as well as other security agencies in diminishing the capabilities of terrorist elements in the Northwest,” he said.
Gabkwet added: “He made this known earlier today (yesterday), June 17, 2024, when he feted the Air Component of Operation Hadarin Daji at 213 Forward Operating Base, Katsina.”
Another statement by the spokesperson for the state governor, Ibrahim Mohammed, said the raid was part of ongoing Operation Hadarin Daji.
The airstrike, it noted, is the third of its kind executed by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) in recent weeks in the state, in which several bandits have been neutralised.
MEANWHILE, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has tasked the Ministry of Defence to give a timeline within which the war on terror would end to enable millions of displaced citizens to return to their daily lives.
It also called for the creation of a National Guard to be made up of operatives from the armed forces and police and to be coordinated by a military General.
The group urged that this segment of the military should focus exclusively on combating any manifestation of terrorism and such dastardly crimes as kidnappings for ransom, internal insurrections and then allow the military to major on defending the territorial integrity of Nigeria.
Speaking on the almost unending war on terror that has gone on for over 10 years with over 60,000 citizens killed by terrorists, the rights group charged the military hierarchy to publicise a deadline and timeline within which the war should be won.
HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, said: “The essence of issuing a timeline is for some top Generals, who have turned the war on terror into a commercial enterprise and a profitable franchise, not to be tolerated by the system so as not to unduly prolong the war on terror.
