…Inducts newly acquired Mi-35M Helicopters
BY ODILI CHRISTEL
As the air arm of the armed forces, the Nigerian Air Force has been playing crucial roles in the counter insurgency operation
in the North East where our officers, airmen, soldiers and ratings have performed gallantly, and as a nation, we are particularly proud that in less than 2 years, we have been able to renew our armed forces for the full restoration of Nigeria’s territorial integrity that was once violated by Boko Haram insurgents.
President Muhammadu Buhari disclosed this during the 53rd Anniversary Celebration of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) held at the NAF Base Makurdi, Benue State. The Minister of Defence, Mansur Mohammad Dan-Ali who represented President Muhammadu Buhari urged the NAF to continue to consolidate on the gains of air power towards sustaining the peace and stability the nation has attained so far adding that the war against insurgency would not be consider fully won until the remaining Chibok girls are found and delivered to their parents.
Speaking on the newly inducted Mi-35M helicopter, President Buhari said that “I have no doubt that the employment of the Mi-35M helicopters would add impetus to the combat efficiency of the Nigerian Air Force. Accordingly, you should deploy the platforms I have just inducted alongside others in your inventory to intensify the search for the girls and other abductees. I urge you to operate these platforms in an efficient and effective manner so that Nigerians would derive maximum dividend and value for resources expended in their acquisition.”
Meanwhile, the President also used the occasion to formally inaugurate the newly established Special Operations Command in Bauchi by handing over the Colour and winged additional 6 pilots to strengthen the operational capabilities of the NAF.
President Buhari congratulated the NAF on its 53rd anniversary celebration noting that since its establishment in 1964, the service has been fulfilling its constitutional mandate of preserving Nigeria’s territorial integrity through the employment and projection of air power.
In his addressing at the ceremony, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar took a sweep appraisal of the numerous operational and sundry engagements of the Service from inception and how it has evolved from a crude background of rolling bombs out of cabin of aircrafts with hands during the civil war to a modern Air Force that controlled Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in a bombing mission 200km from a ground base station. Under his watch, Air Marshal Abuabakar said that the NAF has done a lot particularly in provision of welfare needs, activation of aging platforms and acquisition of modern ones as well as human capacity development and professionalism for effective and efficient service delivery.
Highlight of the occasion include military ceremonial parade, flying past and aerobatic display by the NAF jets and exhibition of several research and development projects by the NAF.