Heads may roll over NDA terror attack

Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor, has constituted a Board of Inquiry (BoI) to investigate the attack on the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna, by bandits.

Two personnel died while one was abducted, according to a statement by the academy’s public relations officer, Major Bashir Jajira.

The BoI would among others ascertain the remote and immediate cause(s) of the breach of security with a view to sanctioning any personnel found culpable and also prevent future occurrence.

Director, Defence Information, Major General Benjamin Sawyerr, who made this known, also denied reports that military personnel on duty at the academy’s CCTV Monitoring Room were asleep when bandits attacked the officers’ residential quarters.

He described the report as  untrue and challenged anyone with proof of the allegation to make it public.

“Let me also assure that we shall continue to update the general public as events unfold as we are all aware the search and rescue of the abducted officer is still on. Troops of the Armed Forces of Nigeria will continue with its operations to ensure all those involved in the dastardly act are brought to justice.”

Daily Sun gathered that heads may roll over the attack as investigations showed that the attackers, who drove into the academy in motorbikes, gained access and escaped after breaching the barbed wire fence along the Airport Road in Afaka, where it is located.

Investigation by the military revealed that the thick bushes between the Officers Quarters and the Academy fence may have given the bandits the courage to carry out the attack using the thicket as cover to prevent being detected by eagle-eyed soldiers.

It was gathered that response time from troops on duty was slow as bandits succeeded in breaking into five flats housing the officers before the intervention of soldiers.

According to reports, the bandits after a successful operation, escaped through the airport road to an open farm in one of the villages in the area.

Serving and retired military officers, who spoke to Daily Sun, expressed sadness over the attack, which they attributed to the poor security measures put in place at the academy.

They complained that the fence at the academy was capable of breaching the security at the institution and called on government to do the needful by providing concrete fencing and buffer to secure the nations military training institution.

(Daily Sun)