In a bid to stem the rise in reprisal attacks on civilian targets by fleeing bandits from the North-west and North-central regions as a result of land and air offensives by Nigerian troops, the military has launched Operation Accord.
The Coordinator Defence Media Operations, Maj-Gen. John Enenche, who stated this at a press conference in Abuja Thursday, said troops successfully neutralized 392 bandits since the commencement of Operation Katsina, which was launched on 14th May to tackle banditry and other criminal elements in the two zones.
He said: “In the North-west and North-central parts of the Country, the gallant troops through land and air offensives successfully neutralized 392 bandits since the commencement of Operation Katsina, which seriously degraded the bandits and other criminal elements in the two zones.
“Consequently, those bandits that escaped resorted to reprisal attacks on civilian targets. However, Operation Accord was preemptively planned by the High Command of the Armed Forces of Nigeria to handle this situation. In this regard, the Chief of Defence Staff ordered the commencement of Operation Accord from 1 June 2020.”
He said the operation is in collaboration with other security agencies, calling on the public to provide troops with credible information that would lead to the elimination of Nigeria’s common enemies.
”Let me state here that, Operation Accord is a joint operation involving the Armed Forces of Nigeria and other security agencies. It is a concomitant operation by all the theatres of operations in the North West and North Central regions of the Country targeted at tackling banditry and other criminal activities.
“In this regard, all identified hideouts and hibernations of the enemies will be decively cleared through land and air combat actions.
“This can easily be achieved through provision of credible information that can translate to actionable intelligence. Thus, the general public is hereby requested to avail the various operational out fits in their locations with this highly desirable information, to enable the Nigerian Military and other security agencies achieve the set objective,” he said.
He added that troops of Operation Lafiya Dole in the North-east also killed key commanders of Boko Haram terrorists and destroyed their logistic bases.
“The significant feats achieved in this theatre include deletion of key BHT/ISWAP commanders, destruction of their logistics bases and cutting off their supply routes.
“Equally, their camps have been in disarray as a result of the killing of some of their key commanders through airstrikes and artillery bombardments on their identified locations,” he said.
