FAAN speaks on attack by bandits at Kaduna airport

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has released further information on the armed assault on the Kaduna airport on Saturday, confirming that one of its employees was slain by the attackers.

Security officers thwarted an assault by a “group of bandits” on the Runway 05 axis, according to the agency.

Normalcy has already been restored at the airport, according to the report, and security officers have recovered two motorcycles that the criminals had abandoned.

Amina Salami, the airport manager, had previously confirmed the incident, stating that gunmen broke over the perimeter fence from a neighboring woodland about 1 p.m.

She said that the terrorists shot a security guard patrolling the runway before troops, lured by the sound of gunfire, reacted.

The attack caused a flight to Lagos to be delayed.

The event was also verified by the Kaduna State administration. Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i praised the security forces for their quick reaction to the assault and for repelling the assailants, and expressed condolences to the victim’s family, according to Samuel Aruwan, the State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs.

A reinforcement team from the Nigerian Defence Academy was on the ground, according to FAAN, to guarantee the safety and security of airport staff and users.

“The Authority takes this occasion to express its condolences to the victim’s family and friends,” Faithful Hope-Ivbaze, Ag.General Manager, Corporate Affairs, said in a statement.

For years, deadly bands known to the authorities as bandits have operated in North-western Nigeria, abducting and murdering thousands of people. The robbers’ assault on Kaduna airport looks to be one of their most audacious.