The military operatives acting under Operation WHIRL PUNCH continue to comb the Northwest and North Central regions of Nigeria to smoke out the terrorists.

Spokesman for the Airforce, Edward Gabkwet, an Air Vice Marshall, made this known in a statement on Tuesday in which he disclosed that credible intelligence gave away the storage facility of the terrorists.

“The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft under Operation WHIRL PUNCH (OPWP) has continued to decimate terrorists and their logistics, especially in the Northwest and North Central regions of Nigeria.

“One such success was recorded on March 15, 2024, when strikes by NAF aircraft successfully targeted and destroyed terrorists’ logistics storage situated in Palele near Shiroro in Niger State,” Gabkwet stated.

According to the spokesman, authorisation was obtained before the operatives struck at the target, and a secondary explosion confirmed the destruction of the arms and ammunition.

“The operation, which was executed with speed and precision, resulted in significant damage to the target area, including a secondary explosion confirming the destruction of arms and ammunition.
The weapons are believed to be affiliated to a particular terrorist’s kingpin who is on the most wanted list of terrorists,” he stated.

While calling for support from the general public on the activities of terrorists and other criminal elements, Gabkwet said “These strikes have no doubt degraded the capabilities of terrorist elements operating in the region to attack innocent civilians, especially in Kaduna and Niger States”.

Jibia said this during a visit on Tuesday to the NSCDC Command Headquarters in Ilorin.

He noted that the NSCDC had been contributing to the security well-being of the country since its establishment.

The Commander, who recently assumed duty, explained that the visit was to seek the cooperation of NSCDC, saying that no security agency can succeed in isolation.

“As the Chief of Defence Staff stated recently, the country is bleeding, security-wise, and we are in a very challenging situation.

“We believe there is a need for all the security agencies to come together and through this collaborative effort, we can be result-oriented,” he said.

Jibia added that over the years NSCDC had played major roles in the security of the country.

He said that it had become imperative to seek collaborative effort of the corps in order to achieve set out goals and objectives.

The commander explained that the 303 Medium Airlift Group of the NAF was established to provide all the medium airlifting requirements of the Nigeria Air Force.

He said that it would assist the force to accomplish its own security mandate across the country.

Responding, the state Commandant of NSCDC, Makinde Ayinla, said that it had become imperative for the security operatives to collaborate and work together.

The commandant recalled the working relationship between NSCDC and the Nigeria Army since when the Corps was established and assured the Air Force commander of the NSCDC readiness to parley with Air Force.

A member of the House of Representatives, Shina Peller, had recently introduced a bill in the green chamber proposing to scrap the Corps and merge it with the Nigeria Police Force.

Nigeria’s Defence Attaché to Moscow, Air Vice Marshal O.A Adesanya said the oxygen were produced at the NAF Liquid Oxygen Plant and will be distributed to isolation centres and designated hospitals across the country in support of the national response to the Coronavirus pandemic.

He tweeted “I’m glad to note that the Nigerian Air Force has started distributing the oxygen being produced at its Liquid Oxygen Plant to isolation centres and designated hospitals across the country in support of the national response to #COVID2019 pandemic. Kudos @NigAirForce”