The Nigerian Army says 12 of the gunmen that attacked the Kaduna international airport on Saturday were killed in an air strike.
Uriah Opuene, brigadier-general and garrison commander of the Kaduna division 1, said this on Monday while briefing journalists on the development.
Gunmen had attacked the airport on Saturday and killed a security guard.
Opuene said preliminary investigations revealed that the bandits were passing through the airport on their way to Riyawa village, when they sighted and killed the security guard.
“They just took advantage of that to pass a message that they have attacked the airport,” he said.
“There are several layers of security at the airport. This is the first layer and even this first layer was not breached, because from the moment of hearing that shot, it took our men just about three minutes to get here from the next layer of security.
“On arrival, the bandits were already running away, so we engaged them through the use of ground forces.
“Then we called for an air strike and a helicopter was deployed and from the air report, about 12 of the bandits were killed.”
The commander also dismissed reports that the gunmen took over the airport.
“As you can see from the distance, the insinuation that the terrorists took over the airport is not correct,” he said.
“If the terrorists had entered, they would have met us there.”