Against the backdrop of intelligence provided by aerial surveillance and credible sources, Nigerian Airforce fighter jets of ‘Operation Hadarin Daji’ have bombed key enclaves of kidnappers and bandits in the Rijana axis, along Kaduna-Abuja expressway, in Kaduna State.
It was gathered that the airstrikes also destroyed an armoury and a building occupied by a known kidnapping kingpin, Ali Kwaja, who is responsible for most of the kidnappings on the Abuja-Kaduna axis, and eliminated scores of bandits in the vicinity.
Scores of the bandits who were thrown into disarray by the airstrikes met their waterloo during the operation. Locals residing within a safe distance of the area also confirmed that scores of bandits were neutralised at the Rijana axis during the strike.
Bandits often use the enclaves as their staging points to carry out attacks on travellers and commuters on the expressway. The Military High Command had reportedly directed a clearance offensive against bandits and their enclaves along the highway following incessant attacks and kidnapping of travellers along the route.
An intelligence source told newsmen that recent attacks on unsuspecting travellers along the Kaduna-Abuja expressway necessitated the increased surveillance and intelligence along the road and environs to uncover bandits’ activities and their modus operandi in the area.
