Kaduna airport: Terrorists prevent aircraft’s take-off, kill one

… A year after, Troops uncover wreckage of missing Alpha Jet Aircraft

Abiodun OBA

The Kaduna International Airport located in Igabi Local Government Area the Kaduna State, was on Saturday invaded by suspected terrorists.

The attackers, numbering over 200 were said to have taken over the airport a development that caused panic as the suspected terrorists reportedly killed one security official of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency.

The attack, it was gathered forced the authority to temporarily shut down activities while the military battled the suspected terrorists.

A source who confided in our correspondent said the terrorists insisted on shutting down the airport.

Following the presence of the terrorists on the runway area of the airport, workers attached to the airport were said to have left their duty posts.

It was also gathered that an aircraft scheduled to take off for Lagos at 12:30pm could not fly as a result of the presence of the terrorists at the runway of the airport.

It was gathered that most of the workers at the airport had fled as more military personnel have been deployed to the airport.

The source said, “They started attacking the Airport around midnight. The soldiers were able to repel them that midnight and we thought that was all. In fact, our workers resumed work this morning as usual till around 12:00 pm.

“Then, shortly after that, some NAMA workers went to check some of their equipment, then these bandits appeared and started shooting.

“The NAMA engineers scampered for safety, they could not even go and enter the vehicle that took them to the site. It was in the process that their security man was shot in the head.

“The security man was rushed to the hospital and he was confirmed dead.

“As I am talking to you now, the soldiers are still battling those bandits, and they are proving difficult to be repelled. Now, they had shut down the airport.”

As of the time of filing this report, neither the state nor the police had confirmed the attack.

Meanwhile, the wreckage of crashed Alpha Jet aircraft (NAF475) that went off the radar with 2 crew members on 31 March, 2021 has been recovered.

The aircraft was reported missing after losing radar contact with the air force base in Maiduguri, the Borno State Capital on March 31, 2021.

The Army Headquarters disclosed this in a social media post on Saturday.

The army said the wreckage of the aircraft was uncovered by Troops of Operation Desert Sanity on a clearance patrol in Sambisa Forest, Borno State.

The army wrote: “BREAKING: Troops of Operation Desert Sanity on a clearance patrol in Sambisa Forest, Borno State, have uncovered the wreckage of crashed Alpha Jet aircraft (NAF475) that went off the radar with 2 crew members on 31 March 2021. Further exploitation is ongoing.”