Pilots of the Nigerian Air Force fighter jets have destroyed the
four major camps of suspected militants, who are said to be armed pipeline
vandals at Arepo, Ogun State, on the fourth day of the sustained aerial attacks
on the hoodlums in the area.
The Director of Information and Public Relations of the NAF,
Group Capt. Ayodele Famuyiwa, told The PUNCH on the telephone on
Sunday that the NAF was intensifying aerial operations during the day and the
night to dislodge the militants terrorising riverside communities of Ogun and
Lagos states.
Famuyiwa said the NAF was carrying out sustained operations
against the vandals to prepare the stage for the ground troops to move in and
get rid of the gunmen.
Investigation revealed that the fighter pilots of the NAF had
carried out successful strikes on the two major camps in the Fatola and Abuja
and two other areas.
Famuyiwa said the embattled militants were fleeing their
fortress into the mangrove forest and were being monitored effectively by
platforms deployed for the operation.
The Air Force spokesman explained that the NAF had carried out
surveillance activities on the hoodlums to gather the necessary information
about their activities before the commencement of the current aerial
bombardments.
He said the fighter pilots were using rockets against the
vandals because they built their tents on pipelines, which made it difficult to
use bombs in the operation.
Famuyiwa stated that bombs could destroy pipelines apart from
the fact that those dropped on water might not explode immediately and could
become a problem in future.
He said, “So, for now, it is just the Air Force that is
operating in that area. We started with intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance basically, to gather information about the position of those
people, how fortified are they, and to look into the things that they are
doing.
“After that survey, we have been able to identify targets to be
eliminated. The first strike was conducted on Thursday. We struck at their
camps and the whole essence is to take them up so that we can dislodge them
from that area pending the time that the surface forces would be able to come
in.
“So, every day, we have been striking and we are doing both
night and day operation. There are about four camps that have been identified,
that we have struck.
“The challenge is that you need to be able to match your targets
with your weapons. Don’t forget that those idiots built their tents on the
pipelines. It appears that it is not something that started today, it is
something that has been on for years.’’
Famuyiwa added, “When we hit those camps, they are now moving
deeper into the forest. So we cannot say that you can just dislodge them for a
while, they might want to come back. So what we are doing is that we have
intensified our surveillance activities to bomb them deep into the mangrove
forest.
“Like I said, they are very crafty people, they have built their
camps, on the pipelines to be able siphon fuel. So, what we are doing is to use
rockets to fire at them; you can get some level of destruction of the tents but
you may not destroy the tents completely, but you can be sure that any human
element that is there, it is going to kill them.”
Famuyiwa explained further that video clips from the aerial
offensive against the militants showed that they were well armed and very
organised.
According to him, they had GPMG mounted on canoes on their
observation posts, which showed that they had been involved in the
vandalisation of the pipelines for long.
The Acting Director, Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Rabe
Abubakar, told one of our correspondents on Saturday that the military would
sustain the operations to ensure that the camps of the vandals were removed.
However, neither Famuyiwa nor Abubakar could give the casualty
figure in the four-day aerial pounding of the hideouts of the hoodlums.
A source involved in the operation said on Sunday that there was
continuing rocket fire while ground troops and other security agents were in
strategic locations in the area.
The source said the armed vandals were holed up in the area and
could not provide any resistance to the military onslaught on them.
“The operation is not over. These guys are still inside there.
The military is still pounding their locations.
“You know that the terrain is very difficult, you can only get
there with canoes but the troops have blocked the entire place. Only the
military can tell you when ground forces will move in,” Abubakar stated.
NSCDC arrests 19 fleeing militants
No fewer than 19 suspected militants have been arrested by
operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in the ongoing
aerial bombardment of creeks in the Fatola and Arepo areas of Ogun State.
It was gathered that some of the suspects were apprehended while
fleeing from their camps being shelled by the Nigerian military.
Although the military had assured residents of the areas of
safety, the operation had created panic among some people in the areas. While
some residents had fled their homes, others were forced to remain indoors.
It was learnt that while the operation continued, operatives,
comprising the police, NSCDC, Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Army mounted
roadblocks at strategic places that could be used as escape routes by the
militants.
An official of the NSCDC, Lagos State Command, who participated
in the operations, told one of our correspondents on Sunday that 19 militants
were in the corps’ custody.
He said, “Nineteen militants were arrested around the Ishawo,
Igbo Olomu and Elepete areas of Ikorodu on Saturday and Sunday. Some of them
were caught after fleeing from the areas being bombarded while others were
arrested based on information by residents. NSCDC officials from Ondo, Ogun and
Oyo states are with us. We are about150. The bombardment is still on.”
The spokesperson for the NSCDC, Lagos State Command, Kehinde
Bada, confirmed the arrest, adding that investigation was ongoing.
She said, “It was a joint operation involving our men, the
police, the Nigerian Navy, the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Air Force. So
far, we have arrested 19 suspected militants, some of who fled their base,
having realised their game was up.”
Post a Comment