By Olayemi Esan
An Assessment of the kidnap incident revealed that the bandits gained access and escaped by breaching the barbwire fence of the Academy along airport road in Afaka, Kaduna.
SpyeTV report that armed bandits in the early hours of Tuesday attacked officers’ residential quarters at the NDA leading to the death of two officers and the abduction of one other officer.
Further checks revealed bushy areas around the officers’ quarters to the fence area which is believed to have given the bandits easy concealment during escape.
In addition, it was observed that the response time of troops to the crime scene was slow as the bandits successfully broke into five different flats in the same block and swiftly withdrew before the intervention of troops.
Further assessment revealed that the bandits’ escape route leads across the Airport road to an open farm or bush near Gidan Gado village in Afaka.
The bandits are believed to have escaped either to Buruku and Maguzawa axis or the Riyawa axis in Igabi Local government area of Kaduna state which is known as notorious bandits’ hideouts.
ACTION PLAN
Consequently, there is need for robust clearance operations along those areas.
Though there are frantic joint efforts by troops and other security forces in the state with a view to rescuing the kidnapped Officer, it is strongly suggested that the security arrangements in NDA need total overhauling. This is with a view to averting future recurrence even as monitoring continues.
However, NDA authorities, acting on the directive of the Chief of Defence Staff has constituted a board of enquiry to ascertain the remote and immediate cause and causes of the breach of security with a view to sanction any personnel found culpable and also prevent future occurrence.
CDS VISIT TO NDA
The CDS visited NDA over the armed bandits attack incident. The CDS and his entourage which include the Director of Personnel Services, (DOPS), Cheif of Defence Intelligence (CDI) Gen. Adebayo, and other senior military officers were received at the Kaduna International Airport by the NDA Commandant and other senior officers of the academy.
The visit was aimed at getting firsthand information on the incident for further action. The CDS was briefed by the Commandant and later taken to the incident scene.
The visit was hitch-free and CDS and his team departed to Abuja.