Air Force kills terrorist kingpin, others in air strike – Nexus News
Terrorist top leader, Alhaji Shanono, has been killed in a major air strike, the Air Force high command acknowledged.
Spokesman of the Nigerian Air force, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, who made this known, added that the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, returned to Kaduna to review ongoing operations and give further orders.
He stated that intensive air operations endured in the entire military theaters of operation, as NAF aircraft continued seeking and striking enemies of the state in their attempts to make life difficult for innocent Nigerians.
The spokesman said: “From the briefings received by the CAS, it is evident that so far, the directives given to the operational commanders are yielding the requisite outcome. Air Marshal Amao, in addressing the commanders, reminded them of the need to remain steadfast and focused on the task ahead. We can’t afford to let down our guards.”
He went on: “In the North West specifically, the effect of strikes undertaken by NAF aircraft has revealed that several terrorists have been eliminated and their enclaves destroyed. One of such strikes, which occurred yesterday (Tuesday), August 9, 2022, resulted in the elimination of a well-known terrorist leader, Alhaji Shanono, operating in Kaduna State.
“Indeed, following receipt of intelligence that he had scheduled a meeting with his foot soldiers at Ukambo, a village about 131 kilometers from Kaduna, the Air Component of Operation, Whirl Punch, dispatched aircraft for interdiction mission at the location.
“Overhead the location, terrorists were sighted under clusters of trees at the foot of Ukambo high ground and after ensuring the absence of civilian settlements within the location, the crew received authorisation to strike. Feedback from local sources disclosed that over 30 rifles and 20 motorbikes were destroyed while about 18 terrorists, including Alhaji Shanono, were neutralized while others sustained various degrees of injuries.
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Sources also disclosed that not less than 26 kidnapped victims previously held by the terrorists were set free due to the airstrike.
IN a another development, the Arewa Youth Assembly has threatened a nationwide protest until President Muhammadu Buhari sacks his National Security Adviser (NSA), Brig.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd), over the nation’s worsening insecurity.
The group stressed that the NSA, whose main responsibility is to counsel the President as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces on the best approach to save lives and property in addition to citizens’ welfare, had not been able to deliver creditably on his duties, hence the need for his displacement.
A copy of a letter signed by Speaker of the assembly, Mohammed Salihu Danlami, dated August 8 and obtained yesterday in Abuja, hinted the security apparatuses and office of the NSA of the planned protest.
Danlami, who confirmed the validity of the letter via mobile phone, added that the proposed march, to begin on August 17 by 8:00 a.m. at the Presidential Villa, is in the interest of the Nigerian masses, who could not afford to hire the expensive services of private security to safeguard themselves against alarming criminal elements nationwide.
