The 207 Special Mobility Group of the Nigerian Air Force in Calabar has carried out air raids on hideouts of criminal elements on Calabar waterways, the Commander, Charles Ohwo, has said.
Ohwo, an Air Commodore, said Thursday in Calabar that the raids were carried out in compliance with the directive of the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, following a series of kidnapping and other criminal activities in Calabar.
Militants attacked a police armoury in Calabar this week killing at least two people and carting away a large cache of weapons.
“Of late, you noticed that in Cross River, especially in Calabar, there has been an increase in kidnapping and theft cases spearheaded by militants, the latest being the attack on Marine Police.
“The Chief of Air Staff directed the Mobility Command to ensure that the militants do not patrol along Calabar waterways again and to reassure the people that the Air Force is always able and ready.
“So the display is just to assure the people of our combat readiness and we recorded successes, ‘’ Ohwo said.
The commander said the Combat Aircraft MI-24 was being used in the operation and that the command was expecting the arrival of another fighter jet, MI-17.
According to him, the command will continue to carry out such raids as often as possible until the bandits are cleared out of its area of responsibilities.
Ohwo said the command was mindful of the safety and continued operations of fishermen during the raids and had informed other sister security agencies in the state about the operation.
“The fight to flush out criminals is a collective responsibility by all security agencies, ‘’ he said.
There has been an upsurge in criminal activities in the state in recent times, especially in Calabar jetties.
(NAN)
Bombing the assumed sites or suspected locations of the “kidnappers” or “militants is not the best way to fight them .
Bombs , from the “air” do not discriminate between “militants and non-militants”. They do not separate between innocent and non-innocent citizens. They do not separate between children and adults. They do not separate between men and women, or boys and girls. Bombs destroy everything on their path; and therefore the Military should find another way to fight insurgency in Nigeria. Be it “militants”, kidnappings, etc.
My suggestions to fighting all these problems in Nigeria include:
1) Surveillance of these militants groups, and sending in ground troops.
2) Only use aerial bombardment in a sparsely populated area(s).
3) Find out who their sponsors are, and arrest and prosecuted them. The reason for this is because studies have shown that these militants and kidnappers go after the very well to do citizens.
Some questions include , how do they penetrate these people security? For example; Dr Iwuala’s mother, President Jonathan’s cousins and other relatives, Professors, very rich business men, etc.
After huge ransoms are paid, who collects this money? The military should know when and where these funds are dropped, and who comes to pick the money.
The above could help the military and the Government find a solution to fighting militants and other groups in Nigeria.
Also note that some of the rich and powerful in Nigeria are involved in the sponsor of the insurgency in Nigeria today.
People give them these militants “military” intelligence. Who are these people? Fish them out. If Olusegun Obasanjo and others are involved, they should be arrested and imprisoned or executed.