Over 20 bandits were neutralized and fortified hideouts were destroyed during a successful air raid by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on criminal enclaves in Katsina State.
The targeted strike took occurred in the early hours of Thursday near Unguwar Goga Hillforest, Ruwan Godiya Ward, under the Faskari Local Government Area.
The Air Component of Operation Fansan Yamma carried out the operation, which was directed primarily at the camps of two infamous bandit commanders, Gero (Alhaji) and Alhaji Riga.
Group Captain Kabiru Ali, the Nigerian Air Force’s Deputy Director of Public Relations and Information, acknowledged the mission’s success in a statement released Friday evening, emphasizing the substantial number of losses the criminals suffered.
The Air Component of Operation Fansan Yamma carried out a precision airstrike in the early hours of March 13, 2025, destroying infamous bandit hideouts in Unguwar Goga Hillforest, Ruwan Godiya Ward, Faskari Local Government Area, delivering a devastating blow to banditry in Katsina State, according to the statement.
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“With more than 20 criminals killed and more reported in the nearby rocky hills, the airstrikes, which came before meticulous and actionable intelligence advanced intended lethality, demolished the fortified camps of famed bandit kingpins Gero (Alhaji) and Alhaji Riga.
“An evaluation of the complete extent of the damage is ongoing, but the airstrike had a decisive impact on the criminals.”
Ali emphasized that Gero and Riga were essential to the continuation of banditry in the area because they provided safe havens for criminal organizations that carried out lethal ambushes along the Funtua-Gusau Road, especially in the area between the villages of Yankara and Sheme.
He added that the military’s continuous efforts to bring peace and security back to the North-West have advanced significantly with their eradication.
