Nigerian soldiers recover large cache of arms in Southern Kaduna

The recently launched Operation HARBIN KUNAMA II by the Nigerian Army in Southern part of Kaduna State which will cover some forests in Bauchi, Kano and Plateau States has started to yield the desired result as troops of 1 Division Nigerian Army recover large cache of arms and ammunition in southern part of Kaduna State on Saturday, April 22.

The discovery was made when troops embarked on cordon and search of Gwaska, Dangoma, Angwan Far and Bakin Kogi general area of Southern Kaduna State.

During the operation, the troops recovered 73 Dane Guns, 4 Locally Made Rifles, 1 Locally Made Machine Gun and 1 Locally Made Pistol. Others include 260 Cartridges, 14 rounds of 7.62mm Ammunition, 63 rounds of 9mm ammunition, 1 Locally made Small Machine Gun Magazine, a pair of worn out military boot and some quantities of assorted Improvised Ammunition and Pyrotechnics hidden in dug out pits.

 While efforts are on going to track down the owners of the arms and ammunition, it is imperative to state the good people of the area have been very supportive and cooperate fully with the military which led to this unprecedented findings.

Similarly, in Sector 1 of the Operation which covers Kano State, troops in conjunction with other security agencies are carrying out operations in suspected armed bandits camps in Falgore forest.

The operation is ongoing.

Southern Kaduna situation out of control? God forbid! – Buratai

Tukur Buratai, chief of army staff, has launched a new operation in the southern part of Kaduna, saying God forbid that the situation in the region gets out of control.

Speaking at the event in Kafanchan on Wednesday, Buratai said the army is determined to ensure that there is peace in the area.

He expressed confidence in the officers deployed in the area.

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“I know it has been in the press and it has generated a lot of interest, but we are determined to shoulder the major responsibility of keeping the peace always and it is better to do this job than to leave it until it goes out of hand. God forbid,” Buratai said.

“I have seen confidence in all the officials that have briefed us and I have seen improvements in their understanding of the environment.”

On his part, Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna, said the crisis in southern Kaduna had attracted a lot of attention because of the religious undertone given to it.

Warning the perpetrators of the crisis to desist, el-Rufai vowed that his administration would not stop going after those fanning the embers of discord.

“The first step is what you are seeing today, to stabilise the place by ensuring that the presence of security to protect lives and property and then to target areas of hideouts for the bandits and flush them out,” he said.

“Our hope is that, with the completion of these operations, we will relax the curfew.

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“The second step which we have started concurrently is to arrest perpetrators of these crimes, whether it is those that write hate speech or go to churches and mosques and encourage others to kill or supply arms to young people and drug them so that they can kill, we have been monitoring them and we will be arresting and prosecuting them.

“This is what has been missing in this part of the state in the last 37 years, people have got away with murder and that has inculcated a culture of impunity, by God’s grace we are going to change that because some people would be prosecuted for what is happening here.

“Everyone one that we lay our hands on would be brought before a judge.”

The insecurity in the area has been a source of concern to the government and Nigerians at large.