Preliminary findings by the military authorities have revealed how the gunmen, who attacked the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna, gained access to the institution.
It was gathered that the attackers broke into five apartments at the NDA residential quarters and swiftly escaped before the guards on duty could respond.
This came to the fore on Wednesday as the Christian Association of Nigeria and the Coalition of Northern Groups berated the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
Gunmen had early on Tuesday attacked the NDA, killed two officers and kidnapped another during the surprise attack.
The deceased are Lieutenant Commander Wulah and Flight Lieutenant Commander Okoronkwo, while Major Datong was abducted. The gunmen injured another person, identified as Onah.
But preliminary findings by the military authorities indicate that the attackers broke into five apartments at the NDA residential quarters and swiftly escaped before the guards could respond to the situation.
The successful abduction and swiftness of the operation suggested that the assailants might have collaborators within the NDA, it was learnt.
An assessment of the incident carried out by the authorities indicated that the sentry guards did not offer a robust and effective response to the armed invaders.
It was also noted that the bush behind the officers’ quarters made it easy for the gunmen, said to be in military uniform, to escape.
The report states, “An assessment of the kidnap incident revealed that the bandits gained access and escaped by breaching the barbed wire fence of the academy along Airport Road, Afaka.
“Further checks revealed bushy areas around the officers’ quarters to the fence area, which is believed to have given the bandits easy concealment during escape.
“More so, it was observed that the response time of troops to the crime scene was slow as the bandits successfully broke into five different flats in the same block and swiftly withdrew before the intervention of troops.
“Further assessment revealed that the bandits’ escape route leads across the Airport Road to the open farm/bush area near Gidan Gado village in Afaka.”
The report further noted that the bandits escaped through the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
It stated, “The bandits are believed to have escaped either to Buruku and Maguzawa axis or the Riwaya axis in the Igabi LGA, which are known as notorious bandits’ hideouts.
“Consequently, there is a need for robust clearance operations along those areas.”
It added that a joint security operation had been launched to rescue the kidnapped officer.
The report also strongly recommended an overhaul of the security architecture of the NDA to avert a recurrence of the attack.
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