Nigeria’s Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, says he will commence a heavy deployment of air troops from Friday, June 17, to Maiduguri for mop up operations on Boko Haram insurgents.
Speaking to reporters in Kano State, North West Nigeria, the Air Force boss disclosed that already, a significant number were deployed in Niger Delta to counter the Avengers’ destruction of Nigeria’s oil pipelines.
The Air Staff boss believes that the most important machinery to air theater in the contemporary security threat to Nigeria is the ability of the defence to employ air power that will make the ground hold-able for the land Army to move into action.
The Operation Lafiya Dole jointly carried out by all security agencies across the country has yielded much needed results as air officers are only being deployed to clear the ground for mop up operations by sister security agencies.
He further assured officers that henceforth, their welfare packages would include the provision of a conducive atmosphere to settle their families at the barracks. He added that making them comfortable at the war front will always come first.
The Air chief also commissioned staff quarters and pilot students hostels at the Air Force Base in the state.
Commissioning the projects, a former Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Mukhtar Muhammad, said that with the commitment shown so far by Nigeria’s defence mechanism, he was optimistic that the activities of Boko Haram insurgents would soon be a thing of the past.
In order to ensure continuity and sustainable security development in Nigeria, the former Chief of Air Staff advised officers and men of the Nigeria Air Force to put all hands on deck, to ensure the actualization of the NAF vision of protecting Nigeria’s Air Defence system.
