Terrorist kingpin, Alhaji Shanono, has been killed in a major air raid, the Air Force high command has confirmed.
Spokesman of the Nigerian Air force, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, who made the confirmation, added that the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, was back in Kaduna to review ongoing operations and give further directives.
He said intensive air operations endured in the entire military theatres of operation, as NAF aircraft continued seeking and decimating enemies of the state in their attempts to make life unbearable for innocent Nigerians.
The spokesman said: “From the briefings received by the CAS, it is evident that so far, the directives given to the operational commanders are yielding the requisite outcome. Air Marshal Amao, in addressing the commanders, reminded them of the need to remain steadfast and focused on the task ahead. We can’t afford to let down our guards.”
He went on: “In the North West specifically, the effect of strikes undertaken by NAF aircraft has revealed that several terrorists have been eliminated and their enclaves destroyed. One of such strikes, which occurred yesterday (Tuesday), August 9, 2022, resulted in the elimination of a well-known terrorist leader, Alhaji Shanono, operating in Kaduna State.
“Indeed, following receipt of intelligence that he had scheduled a meeting with his foot soldiers at Ukambo, a village about 131 kilometres from Kaduna, the Air Component of Operation, Whirl Punch, dispatched aircraft for interdiction mission at the location.
“Overhead the location, terrorists were sighted under clusters of trees at the foot of Ukambo high ground and after ensuring the absence of civilian settlements within the location, the crew received authorisation to strike. Feedback from local sources disclosed that over 30 rifles and 20 motorbikes were destroyed while about 18 terrorists, including Alhaji Shanono, were neutralised while others sustained various degrees of injuries.
Sources also revealed that not less than 26 kidnapped victims earlier held by the terrorists were released as a result of the airstrike.”
IN a related development, the Arewa Youth Assembly has threatened a nationwide protest until President Muhammadu Buhari sacks his National Security Adviser (NSA), Brig.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd), over the nation’s worsening insecurity.
The group maintained that the NSA, whose primary responsibility is to counsel the President as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces on the best approach to secure life and property in addition to citizens’ welfare had not been able to deliver creditably on his responsibility, hence the need for his replacement.
A copy of a letter signed by Speaker of the assembly, Mohammed Salihu Danlami, dated August 8 and obtained yesterday in Abuja, intimated the security apparatuses and office of the NSA of the planned protest.
Danlami, who confirmed the authenticity of the letter via mobile phone, added that the proposed march, to begin on August 17 by 8:00 a.m. at the Presidential Villa, is in the interest of the Nigerian masses, who could not afford to hire the expensive services of private security to protect themselves against marauding criminal elements nationwide.
