By Ismail Auwal
Bandits on Saturday afternoon staged one of the most daring attacks in the country after storming Kaduna Airport killing one person in the process.
The assailants gained access through the crash gate on the airport perimeter fence and started shooting sporadically around the runway.
The attack took place around noon just when an Azman Air flight to Lagos was to board its passengers.
The Management of Azman Air in a statement said that “Azman Air Aircraft 5N-HAI touched down at the Kaduna Airport around 12:36 pm and the boarding of Lagos bound passengers was completed around 1:04 pm during which the cockpit crew requested permission to depart.”
According to the statement, the control tower offered safety advice for the plane to hold on departure due to Security Threats in a village close to the Airport.
“This delayed our departure for 44min after which the control tower cleared the crew to proceed accordingly,” the statement reads.
Military personnel from the Nigerian Army and Nigerian Air Force arrived at the airport moments after the attack to repel the bandits.
A security guard, identified as Shehu Na’Allah, with Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) was killed in the attack.
A staff working at the airport told SAHELIAN TIMES that the Azman flight and a business jet departed the airport at around 2 pm thereafter the airport was closed for operation.
