FG: Terrorists Suffering Heavy Casualties as Air Strikes Avert Killing of More Soldiers in Kaduna

•Says it’s not overwhelmed, blames PDP for economic woes

•Okays N36.1bn for Keffi-Nasarawa-Toto road 

•Boko Haram fighters eliminate 10 ISWAP terrorists in gun duel

Deji Elumoye and Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

The federal government, yesterday, reiterated that terrorists disturbing the peace of the nation had continued to suffer heavy casualties in their engagement with Nigerian soldiers in some parts of the country especially, the North West and North East zones.

It also said contrary to insinuation in some quarters, government was not overwhelmed by skirmishes of security challenges across the country, but that not every success of the military in its war against terrorism, was in the public domain.

This is as some military air strikes conducted by the Nigerian Air Force  in Kaduna, yesterday, averted the killing of more soldiers by  hundreds of  terrorists on motorcycles, even though fifteen soldiers were killed in the attack while 21 others were wounded.

The air interdiction came as, at least, 10 fighters  of the Islamic State for West African Province (ISWAP), including top commanders were reportedly executed by a faction of Boko Haram in the North-east of Lake Chad region.

At the same time, the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has also disclosed that Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved N36.130 billion for Keffi-Nasarawa-Toto Road in Nasarawa State, Central Nigeria.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made this known Wednesday while addressing newsmen after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja.

The minister blamed the media for giving prominence to terrorists by publishing their stories on the front pages.

He also confirmed the attack on a military base in Birnin Gwari area of Kaduna State during which, 16 soldiers were reportedly killed and was quick to say the attack was repelled with the terrorists suffering heavy casualties.

His words: “Yes, there was an attack on a military base in Kaduna State but what was not reported was the very timely and efficient manner it was repelled, and the huge casualty suffered by the bandits/terrorists. I also have a video of the area interdiction by the military.

“I keep saying that this is an asymmetrical war in which we are not in liberty only to tell you how in details, how the camps of the bandits are being decimated daily. It is a war of attrition, but our military is living to the billing, our military is working day and night to ensure that the terrorists are neutralised.

“We will continue to give information on the progress we are making in our fight against the terrorism but we can assure that we are on top of this matter.

“But unfortunately, it is the story of second guessing that is going on and we will continue to give relevant information on the progress we’re making in our fight against the terrorism.

“But we can assure you we’re on top of this matter and in any country in the world, while we are fighting terrorists, the oxygen they need is what is being provided daily today, which is they want to occupy the front page of every paper, they want to carry out spectacular attacks even when they are down.

“This is where I think we also seek your support in understanding the mentality of terrorists, that even when they are dying, they will look for the soft underbelly that will keep them relevant, and enable them to get more money from their sponsors, more support from their sponsors. 

“But clearly the last three, four, five days, the military recorded massive victories against terrorists and bandits, either in the northeast or in the Kaduna, Niger axis.”

On whether the federal government was listening to the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who said the terrorists could be tracked as they listened to their conversations, Mohammed said, “I know that Monday, there was a very successful area interjection, where scores of not hundreds of bandits/terrorists were eliminated.

“Even when we’re able to identify where the bandits are, sometimes out of fear of collateral damage to the innocent civilians, you choose the time you want to strike. But I just want to assure you that the administration is not unmindful of your anxieties and your concerns.”

On the worsening economic situation in the country, the minister blamed the opposition PDP, saying, the party laid the foundation for the current hunger being experienced by Nigerians.

He, however, explained the current administration was doing everything possible to address the situation, while on why the present administration has not improved on the bad economy it met in 2015, he said, “I think those who are binding data about the economy and survey are not been very fair to this administration, because they’re taking this data out of context.”

Speaking too, Fashola said, “The Ministry of Works and Housing presented a memorandum to council for a contract for the rehabilitation of 118.9 Keffi-Nasarawa-Toto road in Nasarawa State and the memo was approved for the award of the contract for N36.130 billion.”

He explained that the new Executive Order 11 signed by President Buhari would help improve the life span of all public buildings, and that Nigerians stood to gain a lot from the Executive Order, saying this was the first time the Nigerian government made maintenance a matter of national policy.

His aviation counterpart, Senator Hadi Sirika, said Council approved N5.65 billion for the maintenance of airport terminals in Abuja and Port Harcourt for three years, adding also that, Council approved  N469.6 million for parts of L3 xray machine for clinics at the Abuja, Kano and Lagos airports.

In another development, security sources have said the air interdiction, which routed many of the over 200 insurgents, prevented the killing of more soldiers, in a military base manned by about 50 soldiers.

THISDAY gathered that the suspected gunmen would have killed more soldiers in Birnin Gwari area of Kaduna State if not for the intervention of NAF fighter jets.

The terrorist had launched an attack on a military base at Polewire in the Birnin Gwari District of Kaduna State, where some soldiers were killed and military vehicles destroyed. But NAF deployed two fighter jets to repel the terrorists’ attempt to overrun the military base.

The bandits were sighted fleeing from multiple rockets fired by the fighter planes.

A source, who was part of the rescue team, confirmed that some soldiers were wounded, but added that the casualty on the side of troops would have been “massive if not for the well-executed rescue operation” by a combination of attack aircraft and special ground troops from Birnin Gwari.

He said, “The commander of Panthers of 271 NAF Detachment led special forces on the ground in a rapid response operation after the airstrikes that eliminated most of the terrorists.

“The team successfully evacuated and resuscitated 21 wounded soldiers. Before the attack on the army base on Sunday, the troops had previously carried out several successful operations against the bandits in the axis.

“We also noticed the timely arrival of military aircraft that pursued and bombed the bandits on their escape routes. We learnt that there were massive collateral damage after the aircraft returned and shelled structures that housed families of the bandits on Monday,” he said.

NAF Spokesman, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, confirmed the development.

Relatedly, THISDAY gathered that the Boko Haram terrorists faction of the Buduma overwhelmed the ISWAP in a gun battle, which resulted in the killing of many fighters in the river bank between Kadunan Ruwa and Kandahar axis of Niger Republic.

Many fighters drowned  while ten ISWAP fighters were captured by the Buduma’s faction.

A counterinsurgency analyst in the Lake Chad area,  Zagazola Makama, obtained a video showing the two terrorist groups in heavy gun battle in a boat on top of the water.

In the 6:40 minutes video seen by Zagazola, two ISWAP top commanders were interrogated before being taken to somewhere and slaughtered.