The fighter aircraft of the Nigerian Air Force on Monday struck the hideouts and camps of the notorious pipeline vandals at Arepo, Ogun State.
The Director of Information and Public Relations of the NAF, Group Capt. Ayodele Famuyiwa, said in an electronic mail on Monday that the aerial operations were carried out in continuation of the ongoing aerial bombardments of the hideouts which started on Thursday.
He said that the aerial operations were designed to provide the necessary support for the Joint Task Force codenamed 'Operation Awatse' which was set up by the Defence Headquarters to dislodge the vandals from the pipeline at Arepo, Ogun State.
He said that observations by the NAF indicated that the vandals had been seriously displaced and their heinous activities drastically reduced.
He said that the NAF would sustain the operation to prevent the remnants of the vandals who might have taken refuge in the forest from regrouping.
Famuyiwa said that the NAF involved was in ongoing operations in four of the six zones in the country to tackle threats to national security which included 'insurgency in the North-East; cattle rustling, kidnappings and armed robbery in the North-West; militancy in the South-South; and pipeline vandalism in the South-West.'
He said, "There are strong indications based on analysis of the enclosed footage on Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, as well as Strike and, Battle Damage Assessment missions undertaken by NAF aircraft that the vandals have been sufficiently displaced from their current locations at Arepo while their criminal activities have also been heavily disrupted.
"The NAF however is intensifying its ongoing air operations day and night to neutralise the remnants of the vandals who might have relocated deep inside the Mangrove Forest.
"Recall that the NAF is at present operating in four zones across the country to tackle various forms of internal security challenges. They include insurgency in the North-East; cattle rustling, kidnappings and armed robbery in the North-West; militancy in the South-South; and pipeline vandalism in the South-West."
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