A pressure group, Northern Youth Network (NYN), has lauded the Nigerian Military over what it described as renewed success in the war against terrorism and bandits in recent times in Sokoto, Borno, Zamfara, Kaduna and other states in the North East.
Spokesman of NYN, Mallan Abdulrahman Ahmed in a statement made available to newsman commended the Nigerian military and other security agencies involved in the fight against terrorists in the country.
He particularly commended the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) for properly coordinating intelligence and sharing same with the armed forces which has led to precision in the ground operations and Airstrikes by the air component of the operation Hadin Kai.
The group maintained that the success of the war in recent times against insurgency is as a result of the intelligence gathered nothing that the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions, has yielded positive results.
“Recently, the Airforce supported by ground troops have dealt a deadly blow on the terrorists and bandits, destroying their camps, armoury and eliminating several of them including their top commanders and their families. This kind of success would not be possible except for the Impeccable intelligence gathering by the DIA”, the statement added.
It further explained that the success of the airstrikes can be seen in the bombardment of the compound of a notorious bandit leader, Alhaji Zaki in Bayan-Magari forest Birnin Magaji in Zamfara State stressing that the attack led to the elimination of all members of his family.
Relatedly, a Joint Operation by the Nigeria and Niger Republic military forces around Diffa and Mallam Fatori Axis lead to the elimination of scores of Boko Haram insurgents and destruction of 5 gun trucks were destroyed and cache of weapons recovered.
Mallam Abdulrahman Ahmed, stated that Nigerian military airstrikes killed most wanted ISWAP commander, Modu Kime Aka Abou Maryam and his group of insurgents along the borders of Lake Chad In Borno State. NAF airstrikes targeted the Gun Truck Which sheltered Abou Maryam during the battle and destroyed It at the River banks of Bisko and Tumbum Tawaye in Abadam local government area of the state. Abou Maryam who has been On the wanted list for a long time due to his attacks on Damasak, Nganzai and Maiduguri, Borno State.
According to the spokesman of the Northern Youth Network, troops have rescued all 48 victims who were attacked and kidnapped by bandits while commuting to Kano on the Kaduna Birnin -Gwari highway after intense gun battle .
“The military has also arrested several other bandits informants and many others supplying drugs and other logistics to the terrorists. A large number of insurgents have surrendered to the Military in the last few months.
“The aforementioned success can only be achieved through intelligence gathering and processing into actionable intelligence for the conduct of operations. The group while commending the security forces tasked them to garner the needed cooperation and synergy to finally defeat criminality and restore normalcy in the affected areas”, the statement noted.