Over 300 bandits have so far been confirmed killed in the ongoing war against banditry in the North-Western part of the country.
The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadiq Abubakar stated this on Thursday at the Umaru Musa Yar’adua Airport, Katsina during an operational visit to the Air Component of Operation Hadarin Daji.
According to Abubakar, the visit was to assess the level of support in terms of Air and Special Forces operations given by the Nigerian Air Force to the Defence Headquarters Operation to secure the entire North West and North Central zones of the country.
While asking the troops not to spare any bandit so that farmers can go back to their farms, he appealed to the bandits to surrender their arms and face Justice.
He also called for more support from the host communities, especially the human intelligence which according to him is critical in this kind of war.
“And to the troops, I urged them to work much harder to justify the enormous resources that the government is spending on their training and their allowances and equipment.
“The whole idea is to have a clear picture of the level of support that the Air operation effort is given to the Defence headquarters directive to secure the North West and the North Central,” he said.
The Chief of the Air Staff also reiterated his readiness to establish an Air Range at Dungurun forest bordering Zamfara and katsina states to keep the area busy so that bandits will not have a hiding place.
He noted that he is impressed that the Special Forces are currently collaborating with the Army to ensure that communities are secured.
