Zamfara: Flight Restriction To Cut Off Bandits’ Arm Supply Network — Military Sources

The declaration of Zamfara State as a ‘no-fly zone’ by the Federal Government was taken to cut the supply of arms and ammunition to bandits and other criminal elements operating in the state, Military sources have disclosed according to TheNation report.

According to the sources, the military and intelligence community are pursuing the assumption that the bandits get their arms supply through airdrop, since Zamfara State is landlocked, The Nation has reliably gathered.

Although there was no official statement from the Defence Headquarters to buttress the claim, a top military source confided in The Nation that some expatriates who engage in illegal mining in Zamfara State, were behind the of arms and ammunition to the bandits.

“There is credible intelligence that the bandits get their arms and ammunition by airdrop. The fact that Zamfara State is landlocked supports the intelligence, so by declaring Zamfara State as a ‘no-fly zone’, is intended to cut off the bandits’ arm supply chain, while the troops move in to flush them out”, the source disclosed.

Meanwhile, efforts to get the Nigerian Air Force to comment on the possible implications of a violation of the flight restriction were abortive as the NAF spokesman, Air Vice Marshal Ibikunle Daramola, could not take his calls or respond to messages sent to him.

Also, the Director Defence Information, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, did not take his calls.