Regular commercial flights resumed yesterday at the Kaduna International Airport two months after it was attacked by bandits in a rare terror attack.
The bandits had on March 26 launched an attempted invasion of the facility, killing a private security guard attached to the Nigerian Airspace management Agency near the outer perimeter fence.
They were however repelled by security forces attached to the airport.
Read Also: Abuja-Kaduna Train: We Are Still Negotiating With Bandits –FG
Following the attack, commercial airlines plying the route suspended their flights, seeking improved security.
Africa Today News, New York reports that at the moment it appears efforts have been made to allay fears of airline operators as the first commercial flight since the incident landed at the airport at exactly 8am on Monday morning.
Passengers expressed delight over the resumption of services after almost nine weeks of shitting down.
‘The security is very okay and everything is smooth’, a passenger, Wale Busari, told Channels Television. ‘We are happy, there is no problem.’
He urged the government to ‘continue to beef up the security.’
Abubakar Mustapha, another passenger, said noticing about three patrol teams at the airport was ‘reassuring.’
The Kaduna airport manager, Amina Salami, said she was ‘very happy’ about the reopening.
She added that management was “satisfied for now” about the security measures in place at the airport.
In a related development, the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El Rufai has confirmed the presence of Ansaru terrorists and other criminal elements in the State.
The Governor revealed that the rising presence of Ansar and Boko Haram terrorists in the state and their growing interaction with armed bandits was responsible for the attack on the Abuja- Kaduna bound train on the 28th of March in which the passengers kidnapped were still in captivity.