Truth about bandit attack on Kaduna airport revealed

The reported attack on the Kaduna International Airport happened six kilometres away from the terminal and outside the Airport perimeter fence, and the bandits had cause to regret ever making that attempt.

The military authorities stated this Tuesday to clarify issues about safety and security at the facility.

Samuel Aruwan, Kaduna State Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Garrison Command 1 Division Nigerian Army, Brig-General Uriah Opuene and Air Force Base Commander, Air Commodore Ademuyiwa Adedoyin led journalists on an assessment tour of the scene of the attack.

Brig-General Opuene told newsmen the Kaduna International Airport has several layers of security, and that even the first layer was not breached.

He stated that preliminary investigations revealed that the bandits were just passing through the back of the Airport towards Riyawa village, and  sighted the security man engaged by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to watch over their metrological equipment around the axis.

“As you can see, this place is about six kilometers away from the Airport terminal. The bandits were only passing behind the airport perimeter fence when they saw the security man engaged by NAMA and they fired at him. They just took advantage of that to pass a message,” he said.

“So, as you can see from the distance, the insinuation outside that the terrorists took over the Airport is not correct. If the terrorists had entered, they would have met us there,” he said.

Also speaking, Air Commodore Adedoyin, the NAF Base Commander also explained that security around the Airport general area had been beefed up since the security of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) was breached last year, adding that bandits don’t have the audacity to attack the Kaduna Airport.

He added that the State Government was engaging citizens in communities around the Airport to scale up intelligence gathering.

He assured that there was no threat to the immediate vicinity of the Airport because the military were ahead of the bandits.