•Army assures Sokoto residents of protection amid onslaught
Airstrikes by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) have neutralised over 40 terrorists at Musarram, within the Tumbuns (Islands) general area, following credible intelligence of terrorists assembling on canoes with plans to launch attacks on the Baga and Fish Dam axis.

NAF’s Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, said the successful operations were conducted on January 15.
Ejodame explained that following the intelligence, aircrew, who arrived at the location, sighted approximately 10 canoes and over 40 suspected terrorists.

He said that the terrorists were engaged in three successive passes, forcing them into disarray. Ejodame also said NAF provided air support to ground forces at Azir, on January 16, who were engaging terrorists withdrawing from the area.

He said scans revealed terrorist elements attempting to regroup and take cover under nearby trees, adding that the force’s aircraft promptly acquired and engaged the targets in successive, well-coordinated passes, resulting in the neutralisation of several terrorists.

Reacting to the successful operations, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sunday Aneke, reaffirmed NAF’s unwavering resolve to provide prompt and effective air support to ground forces.

He reassured Nigerians of the force’s sustained operational focus, saying: “The Nigerian Air Force remains firmly committed to protecting our troops and safeguarding the nation.”

THIS is even as the General Officer Commanding 8 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Bemgba Paul Koughna, has toured the Tidibale community in Isa Local Council of Sokoto State, assuring residents recently displaced by bandit attacks of strengthened and sustained military protection.

The visit, his first major field engagement since assuming command, comes amid mounting pressure on security forces to stabilise rural settlements across the North-West, a region plagued for years by banditry, mass abductions and forced displacement.

This was disclosed in a statement by the Acting Deputy Director Army Public Relations 8 Division, Olaniyi Osoba, yesterday.

Addressing residents during the assessment tour, Koughna said the Nigerian Army was “fully committed to ensuring that no community is left at the mercy of criminal elements,” adding that troops had been permanently deployed to the area.