An elderly passenger
fainted during the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) counter-terrorism exercise held on
Tuesday, November 8th, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The man, who is believed
to be hypertensive fainted when he heard the sound of gunshots. However, a team
of paramedics were on hands to rescue him. He was immediately taken to the
waiting room for treatment.
The exercise codenamed "Thunder Bolt" was to ascertain
the readiness of the NAF to foil terrorist attack and hostage taking at any of
the nation’s airports. The exercise scenario centred on hostage taking by a
terrorist group and likeliness of reinforcing to inflict damage on air assets
and other facilities.
The rescue operation was
conducted in two phases. Phase One involved dropping troops on top of the
airport terminal building from a helicopter and accessing the building from the
roof top as well as deployment of assault and sniper teams at vantage positions
around the airport to subdue terrorists within the terminal building.
Phase Two was targeted
at stopping would-be terrorist reinforcement from gaining access to the
airside. The goal here is to stop external support from reaching the terrorists
in order to safeguard air assets packed on the apron and other airport
facilities from being destroyed.
In a situation where
airport perimeter fence has been breached and the Mobile Air Defence Team
(MADT), which usually is integral to the standard airport defence arrangement,
is unable to effectively contain a large number of advancing terrorists, the
exercise incorporated provision of reinforcement to MADT by way of closed air
support (CAS) strike by Alpha Jet, as well as rappelling of additional troops
behind the terrorists in addition to mop-up by NAF helicopter gunship.
The Exercise, which
essentially is aimed at exercising the NAF’s counter terrorist tactics and
coordination with other agencies was adjudged satisfactory by the Chief of the
Air Staff, Air Mshl Sadique Abubakar, and the Secretary to the Government of
Lagos State, Mr Tunji Bello. While fielding questions from journalists at the end
of the exercise, Air Mshl Abubakar was quick to add that areas of lapses or
gaps observed would be addressed with a view to perfect subsequent exercises.
Other agencies that participated in the exercise include the Department of
State Services (DSS), Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Nigeria Security and Civil
Defence Corps (NSCDC), Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) as well as
Federal and State Emergency Management Agencies.
Recall that the NAF held the first counter terrorist exercise
in Abuja at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on 7 September 2016. The
NAF plans to conduct the exercise in all the major airports across the country.
More photos from the exercise below...
More photos from the exercise below...
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