Oil Theft: How NAF airstrikes hit crude thieves, terrorists, other criminal elements in Niger Delta

*Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, Director of Public Relations and Information of the Nigerian Air Force, says airstrikes targeted nefarious activities of oil thieves and other illegalities affecting the country’s oil output and general environment in the region

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

For perpetrating economic sabotage against the country, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has disclosed  it simultaneously decimated several criminal elements through airstrikes in various theatres of operations in the Niger Delta region in the past few days.

Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, Director of Public Relations and Information at NAF, said this in a statement issued in Abuja.

In the Niger Delta Region of the country, Gabkwet said that airstrikes were targeted at the nefarious activities of oil thieves, who had continued to affect the general environment of the region as well as the oil output of the West African country.

He said the NAF aircraft under Operation Delta Safe August 11 this year had conducted air interdiction missions at an illegal refining site situated Southwest of Bille, a coastal town in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Gabkwet noted that similar airstrikes were also extended to a well-known IPOB Camp in Orsumoghu in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State same day.

NAF also stated the intelligence revealed that  the proscribed IPOB elements in makeshift camps were sighted preparatory to an impending attack on innocent citizens when the need to effectively engage them arose.

NAF subsequently carried out the successful airstrikes.

The troops further performed airstrikes the same day by the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai at a location about 1.5km East of Arra, a once-deserted terrorists’ hideout near Sambisa Forest.

According to him, earlier reconnaissance on the location had revealed terrorists massing up at the location which had hitherto been cleared of terrorists’ activities about six months ago.

The statement said: “There were strong indications that these terrorists had fled from locations around Lake Chad after the areas came under intense bombardment by NAF aircraft.

“The location east of Arra was consequently attacked to decimate the terrorists and deny them settling at the location and using same as a staging point.”

The NAF Director of Public Relations and Information said: “The footage of the aftermath of the strike later revealed it was successful as several terrorists were neutralised and structures destroyed, while the few surviving terrorists were seen scampering away in disarray.

“At the end, their ability to attack friendly forces as well as innocent civilians were degraded.”