JUST IN: We killed terrorists planning to attack innocent civilians in Nasarawa – NAF insists

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), on Thursday described as unfounded, allegations by the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigerian (MACBAN), that scores of its innocent members on their way from Makurdi, were killed in an airstrike in Nasarawa State early this year insisting that .terrorists mobilizing to unleash mayhem on innocent civilians were neutralized

Director, Public Relations, NAF Headquarters, Air Commodre Ayodele Famuyiwa, made the position of the NAF known while reacting to questions about the outcome of investigations into the incident

Human rights bodies have also weighed in on the claims by Miyetti Allah that dozens of herders were allegedly killed in a community in Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State in January, on their way from Makurid where they had gone to recover their cows that had been seized by the Benue State Livestock Guard for violating the state’s anti-open grazing law.

Air Commodore Famuyiwa categorically dismissed the allegation declaring that no innocent person was killed in the said operation.

“Let the people who said innocent people were killed provide the evidence and let the press do that analysis and let the truth come out,” he stated.

He decried the sustained attempts by by some human rights bodies, “to put the military in disrepute,” and expressed concern that the Nigerian press was leveraging on the position of the human rights bodies without necessarily hearing from the Airforce.

“Very sadly Nigerian Press is blowing up the position of the human rights watch without you doing your own discrete investigation and being sure that whatever position that you are taking is correct.”

Famuyiwa explained what actually happened: “On the 24th of January, and even before then, there had been intelligence (reports) from several reliable sources of the activities of terrorists in that particular area.

“You are all aware of the nefarious activities of criminal elements in that particular area; you are also aware that there’s an on-going operation, that is the Operation Whirl Stroke.

“The Intel here from several/different sources and even to the Commander of that Operation and to the air component, was that there was a plan by terrorists within that area to carry out a massive attack and then there was a secondary school in question that the terrorists were bound to kidnap students.

“To that extent, the Airforce carried out further surveillance.

“There was surveillance and the surveillance confirmed terrorists, and I mean terrorists, and how do you know that they are terrorist? They have tactics which they adopt.

“You see them coming on bikes in trickles, converging at a location and after that, they disappear, hiding under the forage, and that surveillance continued for almost throughout the day until later in the evening when a truck appeared in that scene.

“The truck was suspected to have brought logistics to them. That was why approval was given by the appropriate authority that, that truck should be taken out and the truck was taken out.

“Now, if anyone is coming around to say innocent people were killed, has the press asked them, where is the photograph of that truck that brought the cattle that they are talking about?

“The claim is that they came there to come and collect their cattle. . Now, if you say people died, where is the truck? where are the cattle?. Where is the photograph of the dead bodies and if you do your investigation very well, you will discover that if you say people died from a strike, there’s going to be a way the bodies will look. Did the press do that?

“The position of the Airforce is that, terrorist were struck that day and whether it is Miyetti Allah or whatsoever group that thinks there were innocent people, let them provide evidence.

“If you think the military is going to give you the evidence of that operation for now, you won’t get it because there are some information that cannot be de-classified now. But let’s put the burden on the people: if they came there to collect their cows, where are the cows?. Where is the picture of the truck that was struck? How did those people die? I think the press needs to do better than this.

“And come to think it, after that particular incident, have you heard of any terrorist activity in that area? Have you heard? So, I think we need to do much better. No innocent person was killed. Let the people who said innocent people were killed provide the evidence and let the press do that analysis and let the truth come out.”