The Defence Headquarters has attributed the recent successes in anti-banditry operations in the North West to timely information sharing by the locals with the military and other security agencies.
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The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche, said this while briefing newsmen on the operations of the Armed Forces of Nigeria between Nov. 12 and Nov. 18, on Thursday in Abuja.
Enenche said the sharing of information by the locals had led to identification and arrest of some bandits’ collaborators and informants in different communities in Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto States.
He said the military was already leveraging on the recent successes to move to the next phase of clearing all the identified bandits’ hideouts in the zone.
According to him, the military is achieving a lot through the provision of information.
He said that the phase of getting and arresting collaborators and bandits was going to help a lot to move the military to the next phase of final clearance.
“Our combat action both on land and air are at the peak into the forest and what we need to do now and the public should be aware is that they should cooperate with us and we are happy that they are cooperating and it is achieving a lot.
“In that way, we will mop up the collaborators that give the bandits information about when and where people go to farm and we will ensure that economic and agricultural activities begin to thrive.
“By our projection and plans, once we are able to get them out of the system especially the collaborators, there would be better life for the people and Operation Hadarin Daji in the North West is achieving that greatly,’’ he said.
Enenche said the troops had on Nov. 15, killed three bandits in an encounter at Yar Tasha village, in Katsina and recovered three AK47 rifles during the operation.
He said that four suspected kidnappers, five bandits and their collaborators were arrested in various locations between Nov. 12 and Nov. 18.
The coordinator said that the Air Component of Operation Thunder Strike had on Nov. 12 killed several bandits in their hideout at Kwiambana forest area of Kaduna State.
He said that the exploitation operation after the air bombardment revealed that an unspecified number of bandits were killed in the forest.
“The gallant troops have continued to dominate the general area with aggressive, confidence building and aerial patrols to deny bandits freedom of action.
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“Thus, the locals are requested to cooperate with the security agencies and avail them with the necessary information that will be useful to our collective objective of taking out the criminals from the zone,’’ he said.