Residents of Birnin Gwari, one of the local government areas affected mainly by banditry in Kaduna state, have commended the joint security operations in communities and forests in the axis.
This is coming as the Nigerian military sustained aerial bombardments of identified terrorists’ enclaves while the ground troops eliminated bandits during clearing operations.
A defence intelligence source told PRNigeria that over 70 bandits were eliminated in one month of intensive joint military operations with the support of local vigilantes.
“Apart from the air strikes that killed motorcycle-riding terrorists, the ground troops, with the support of sister security agencies and vigilantes, also succeeded in eliminating scores of other fleeing bandits during the clearing operations.
“At the last count of corpses after a recent air strike, the vigilante group counted over 70 dead bodies of the terrorists. The sustained operations have curtailed the movement of the bad guys in the area as the troops conduct patrol and exceptional escorts for travellers on significant highways and routes.
“During clearing operations, kidnapped citizens were rescued while some informants were arrested from intelligence and valuable information provided by the people in the communities.