…Over 100 Terrorists Killed in Rival Clash
The Nigerian Air Force has intensified its nationwide counter-terrorism campaign, launching a wave of precision airstrikes that killed scores of terrorists and destroyed key insurgent enclaves across Borno, Kwara and Katsina States.
According to Air Force authorities, the coordinated operations marked one of the most decisive phases yet in ongoing joint military offensives — Operation Hadin Kai in the North-East and Operation Fasan Yamma in the North-West — aimed at dismantling terrorist and bandit networks.
Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, NAF’s Director of Public Relations and Information, said the latest air interdictions, executed on November 9, followed real-time intelligence from surveillance drones that tracked ISWAP fighters mobilising with motorcycles and boats around Mallam Fatori and Shuwaram in Borno State.
“The precision strikes eliminated several ISWAP elements, destroyed their hideouts, logistics hubs and armoury, and severely degraded their operational capabilities,” Ejodame said.
Similar strikes reportedly hit bandit camps in Garin Dandi and Chigogo in Kwara State, as well as Zango Hill in Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina, targeting the hideout of a notorious terrorist kingpin.
NAF said the renewed offensive is in line with directives from the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, to sustain an intelligence-driven campaign that ensures “purposeful lethality” against insurgents.
“Our focus is on smarter airpower projection that protects lives and secures communities,” Ejodame added.
Meanwhile, over 100 fighters have been reportedly killed in a violent clash between rival terrorist groups — Boko Haram (JAS faction) and the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) — in Toumbun Gini, a Lake Chad island in Abadam Local Government Area of Borno State.
Security sources told PLATFORM TIMES that ISWAP launched a Sunday afternoon attack to reclaim the area from Boko Haram, but the offensive turned disastrous after JAS fighters ambushed them.
“ISWAP came with about ten boats but was completely overwhelmed. Over 50 of their fighters were killed and seven boats seized,” the source said, adding that the survivors retreated toward Kukawa and Marte areas.
Analysts warn that the escalation of intra-terrorist violence could increase risks for civilians around the Lake Chad corridor unless security forces tighten their hold on the region.
In Kano State, bandits abducted four nursing mothers at Yan Kwada village in Faruruwa community, Shanono Local Government Area.
Community security chairman, Yahaya Bagobiri, said that the gunmen, who stormed the area on motorcycles, initially kidnapped five women but one escaped.
“They threw away the babies and took the mothers away. They also stole over 50 cows,” Bagobiri said, lamenting that security forces failed to act despite being alerted before the 9pm attack.
He appealed to President Bola Tinubu and National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu to deploy more armed personnel, warning that “daily attacks” were pushing rural residents to despair.
In Nasarawa State, Governor Abdullahi Sule ordered a manhunt for gunmen behind a midnight attack on Sarkin Noma community in Keana Local Government Area.
In a statement by his media aide, Peter Ahemba, Sule condemned the assault as “a deliberate attempt by enemies of peace to destabilise the state” and vowed that the culprits would face justice.
Kebbi State Governor, Dr Nasir Idris, also declared that “no inch of Kebbi is under bandit control,” insisting that insurgents only carry out sporadic raids from neighbouring states.
At a security summit in Birnin-Kebbi, Idris commended President Tinubu for his support, while the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, urged northern leaders to confront insecurity as a united front.
Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Abdurahman Dambazau (retd.), blamed insecurity on poverty and poor education, warning that Nigeria’s North must go beyond talk-shops to practical reform.
Meanwhile, operatives of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command, in collaboration with the DSS, local hunters and vigilantes, have commenced special patrols around churches and border communities linking Kaduna and Niger States.
FCT Commissioner of Police, CP Miller Dantawaye, ordered the deployment to prevent attacks during the festive months.
Command spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, said the exercise was designed to “boost public confidence and secure worship centres from infiltration by criminal elements.”
She urged residents to remain vigilant and report suspicious movements promptly, stressing that “safety is a shared responsibility.”
In a related development, the Progressive Governors’ Forum has called on traditional rulers to invoke spiritual and ancestral powers to help combat insecurity across the country.
Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, made the call during a visit to Niger State Governor, Umar Bago, in Minna.
“Beyond military action, we must summon traditional forces and prayers to restore peace in our land,” Uzodimma said.
He assured affected families of continued support and solidarity from governors under the All Progressives Congress.
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