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Tag: Sadique Abubakar

  • NAF acquires, reactivates five additional air craft to fight insurgency

    NAF acquires, reactivates five additional air craft to fight insurgency

    The Nigerian Air Force ( NAF ) on Monday said it had acquired and renovated five additional air craft to fight insurgency and other crimes in the country.

    The Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, disclosed this at the Fourth Quarter 2017 CAS conference with the Branch Chiefs, Air Officer Commanding (AOCs) , Field Commanders, among others at its Headquarters in Abuja.

    Abubakar said the aim of the conference was to appraise progress made in NAF since the end of the Third Quarter held in Kaduna State in September.

    The CAS said further that the reason for the conference was also to obtain ideas from the bottom to the top, toward moving the service forward.

    He explained that to enable the service carry out its mandate, of protecting the country, the institution had trained a number of pilots and had already been deployed for operational duties.

    “A female pilot, for the first time in the history of NAF, was on the way to the United States Air Force for training as a fighter pilot.

    “Having graduated as the overall best pilot during ab-initio training at 401 Flying Training School Kaduna State,” he said.

    Abubakar explained further that for the service to carry out its professional duties, NAF had also activated additional platforms which had been deployed for operations in the North-East.

    “One Bell 412 Helicopter had been activated, while work on the second one would be completed before end of December.

    “One Mi-35P Helicopter is being reactivated and should be ready for operation by January 2018 ending.

    “The overhauled engines needed for the reactivation had already arrived in Nigeria. The reactivation is being done locally to further build the capacity of NAF technical personnel as well as saving cost,” he said.

    The CAS added that foreign technical experts had been invited to execute the project in conjunction with NAF engineers and technicians.

    Abubakar said the two additional Mi-35M helicopters recently procured for NAF by the Federal Government had been test flown in Russia and should be operational in Nigeria by February 2018.

    Read also: NAF medical outreach in IDPs camps, Borno, successful

    He said a total of five combat helicopters were being added to NAF counter-insurgency efforts.

    “The Periodic Depot Maintenance (PDM) of C-130H Aircraft had commenced in Lagos State, also being done locally by foreign technical experts with personnel for capacity building.

    “Similarly, the Service life of C-130H aircraft NAF 913 has been successfully extended. The foregoing efforts are to boost the strategic and operational airlift capability of NAF,” he said.

    The CAS said further that the air operations in the North-East had been reorganised for increased efficiency.

    He added that the Air Component Commander had been replaced with a Commander, Air Task Force, an Air Vice Marshal, who reports to the Theatre Commander.

    He said NAF had also appointed three Divisional Air Liaison Officers (DALO) for the Nigerian Army’s 3 Armourer Division well as 7 and 8 Divisions in the North-East.

    He said the whole idea was to ensure a better coordination of air efforts with ground operations. The NAF has also appointed an Air Liaison Officer for the Theatre Command to further limit the possibility of gaps in operations.

    “In the area of Force Protection, NAF has trained some of its Regiment personnel as additional Special Forces and deployed them to the North-East for operations alongside other surface forces.

    “NAF has graduated the second set of participants from its Air War College in Makurdi, Benue, the graduates are expected to add value to the Service in general and in operational activities,” he said.

    The CAS enjoined the senior officers to be frank in their contributions, identify challenges and proffer ways of moving the NAF forward.

    NAN

  • ‘NAF medical outreach in IDPs camps, Borno, successful’

    ‘NAF medical outreach in IDPs camps, Borno, successful’

    The medical outreach of the Nigerian Air Force ( NAF ) in Borno is yielding result with the successful general and eye surgeries performed on 69 Internally Displaced people ( IDPs ) from various camps.

    The NAF’s spokesman, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, who disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Abuja, said that the programme would be extended to over 4,000 IDPs in Monguno.

    Adesanya quoted the NAF’s Chief of Medical Services Branch, AVM Saleh Shinkafi, as saying that the programme was designed to get the support of the locals in the conflict areas.

    According to him, during the programme, free medical treatment will be provided to IDPs.

    “There number could increase as a result of the intensive day and night aerial bombardments by NAF.

    “The Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, had also directed that surgeries be conducted, at no cost to the IDPs, for those requiring surgical interventions.

    “A team of additional medical specialists has been deployed to NAF 105 Composite Group Medical Centre to augment the existing medical manpower for the programme.

    “Upon deployment, the medical team immediately started attending to critical surgical cases in IDP camps around Maiduguri.

    “So far, NAF medical outreach team has successfully performed 21 general surgeries and 48 eye surgeries on IDPs from the various camps at no cost to them,” Shinkafi was quoted as saying.

    Adesanya said the director said further that another set of 250 will benefit from free surgical interventions within the 2-day period.

    “This is the fifth cycle of free surgical interventions lined up by NAF for the IDPs in the past two years, during which an average of 200 surgeries were carried out per cycle,” he said.

    The NAF commenced Operation “RUWAN WUTA II”, a few days ago, to further degrade the capability of the insurgents.

    NAN

  • NAF partners NASENI on training, maintenance

    NAF partners NASENI on training, maintenance

    The Nigerian Air Force ( NAF ) has completed the training of its 55 personnel in various fields at the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure ( NASENI ).

    The Director of Public Relations and Information, NAF Headquarters, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, made this known in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

    Adesanya said the training, which took place at the seven centres in NASENI, was aimed at further raising the level of technical manpower in NAF through collaboration with relevant local institutions.

    The director added that the personnel were trained in various specialties, such as Lather Milling Operations and General Maintenance, Laser Cutting, Oxyacetylene Welding.

    They were also trained in Networking Tools and Techniques, Repairs of Electronics Circuits, Electronics Testing and Diagnostics, Cabling and Looming Techniques.

    “The intensive training in the various specialties lasted for various durations, ranging from 14 to 30 days.

    “The training has given the personnel the capacity to reproduce some spares locally as well as carrying out more in-depth repairs of electronics items that were hitherto shipped overseas,” he said.

    Accordingly, the partnership was expected to enhance the effectiveness of aircraft maintenance in NAF as well as boosting the Research and Development efforts of the Service.

    Adesanya explained that the training would have gulped huge resources in foreign currency, if conducted overseas.

    He explained further that the collaboration, afforded the service to complete the training of its 55 personnel with less than N6million.

    “The training is in tandem with one of the key drivers of the vision of the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, which is “Strategic partnerships with MDAs for enhanced Research and Development”.

    “The training was completed last week and the trained personnel have been deployed as appropriate,” Adesanya said.

    NAN

  • Ochai, a national hero, says Air Force Chief

    Ochai, a national hero, says Air Force Chief

     

    Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has described late NAF instructor pilot, Group Capt. Adanu Ochai, who died in a plane crash in Kaduna, as a hero who contributed  immensely to the nation.

    Abubakar made the remark when he led senior officers of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on a condolence visit to the family of the deceased in Kaduna.

    A statement by the NAF Director, Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, on Tuesday in Abuja, said the air chief pledged to support the family left behind by Ochai.

    Late Ochai was the sole pilot on board the NAF Air Beetle aircraft which crashed in Kaduna on Aug. 24.

    “During the visit, prayers were said for the family of late Ochai as well as for the repose of his soul.

    “While speaking with Mrs Ochai, the wife of the late instructor pilot, Abubakar said that late Ochai was a hero who died in the service of the nation while doing what he was passionate about.’’

    Abubakar added that the deceased was an excellent pilot who had trained several officers who knew nothing about flying to become reliable NAF pilots.

    According to him, the late instructor had greatly contributed to the development of NAF, the latest being the record graduation of pilots who completed primary flying training as cadets at the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna.

    The chief of air staff assured the widow that NAF would never forget her husband’s enormous contributions and would cater for the welfare of the family he left behind.

  • FG, U.S. partnering on loot repatriation, says Osinbajo

    FG, U.S. partnering on loot repatriation, says Osinbajo

    The Buhari administration has reached out to the U.S. government to increase its assistance in ensuring that corrupt officials do not get a safe haven abroad for their loot, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said on Monday.

    The Vice President, who said this during the visit of a U.S. Congressional Delegation to the Presidential Villa, said both countries were working on a prompt repatriation of the funds.

    According to Prof. Osinbajo, “we have reached out to the US government with respect to helping with repatriation of proceeds of crime and proceeds of corruption.’’

    Osinbajo, who was appreciative of the support given by the U.S. so far said the Buhari administration regarded “corruption is an existential threat’’ that must be dealt with at its root.

    “We have worked quite closely with the U.S. government on repatriation of funds. We have seen some results,’’ he said adding that the Federal Government expected more improvement in the process.

    He noted that what tended to happen with corrupt public officials was that if they were able to find a safe haven for the proceeds of their criminality they continued with the crime.

    Osinbajo stated that there was the general feeling that “if I am able to get the proceeds out of the country I might just get away with it.

    “This is one of the reasons we have taken several actions to ensure that we are able to deal with it.

    “Because some of the major dislocations in the economy are on account of the problems that we have seen with corruption.’’

    He said the Buhari presidency’s strategy which is one of “the most effective ways of fighting corruption is ensuring that these proceeds are unsafe.’’

    He added that the strategy was for people to know that they would be found out and would be punished for it “and we would seize whatever profit they had gain.’’

    On the return of the Chibok girls, the Vice President said, “it is a front burner issue for us all the time, there is no question of not continuing to negotiate and looking for the girls.’’

    He expressed gratitude to God for the hope that the girls are still alive and would be released.

    The Vice President noted that “negotiations were continuing and government would keep looking for the opportunity to bring them back.’’

    The Vice President thanked the U.S. government for its recent decision to sell Super Tucano aircraft to Nigeria to aid its fight against insurgency in the North-East.

    Sen. Christopher Coons, who led the delegation, said the visit was to reaffirm the relationship between Nigeria and the U.S., noting that the U.S. had “an enduring enthusiasm and partnership with Nigeria’’.

    Other members of the Congressional delegation include Senators Gary Peters, Jeff Merkley, Michael Bennet, Reps Lisa Blunt Rochester, Terri Sewell, Charlie Dent, Barbara Lee and Frederica Wilson.

    The delegation was accompanied by the U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington.

    Also in attendance were the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffery Onyeama, Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, the National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Babgana Monguno, and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar.

  • Security: NAF allocates nine units to new command

    Security: NAF allocates nine units to new command

    The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) says its new Ground Training Command (GTC), Enugu, will oversee and supervise nine NAF units to improve security in the country.

    The Air Officer Commanding (AOC) of the GTC, Enugu, AVM Samson Akpasa, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Saturday.

    Akpasa said that the units were 553 Base Services Group, Enugu; 541 Communications Group, Enugu; 563 NAF Helicopters, Jos; 551 NAF Station, Jos; and NAF School of Finance and Accounts, Badagry.

    The others were NAF Institute of Administrative Management (Temporarily in Kaduna); Regiment Training Centre, Kaduna; SNCOs Leadership and Management Academy (Temporarily in Kaduna) and Military Training Centre, Kaduna.

    Akpasa said that the GTC, which was created on July 3, 2017, was part of the restructuring of NAF meant to widen the span and reach of NAF toward effective and efficient projection of air power.

    “The function of the new GTC Command and its units included but not limited to building of capacity through purposeful training of personnel, implementation of local military training policy and non-technical ground training programmes of NAF,’’ he said.

    According to him, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, is delighted that NAF is returning to Enugu in a bigger way through the new GTC Command.

    “However, we are appealing for maximum cooperation of the State Government and other stakeholders in kick-starting of the command headquarters,’’ he said.

    NAN reports that Air Officer Commanding in Nigerian Air Force is equivalent to General Officer Commanding (GOC) in the Nigerian Army.

  • NAF aircraft crashes in Kaduna, kills instructor

    NAF aircraft crashes in Kaduna, kills instructor

    A Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Air Beetle on Thursday crashed in Kaduna State while on a mission, killing the pilot.

    The Director of Public Relations and Information, NAF Headquarters, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja.

    According to Adesanya, the only soul on board the aircraft, one of NAF’s experienced instructor pilots, was unfortunately lost during the mishap.

    The director said that the cause of the incident had not been ascertained.

    Adesanya added that the Chief of Air Staff, (CAS) , Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has immediately directed the constitution of a board of inquiry to determine the immediate and remote causes of the crash.

    “The unfortunate incident is a tragic reminder of the hazards associated with the flying profession.

    “The CAS and the entire NAF family commiserate with the relatives of the late instructor pilot,” he said.

  • Air Force chiefs meet to restrategise on war against insurgency

    Air Force chiefs meet to restrategise on war against insurgency

    Amidst successes recorded in the fight against insurgency in the country, Nigeria Air Force commanders are meeting in Kaduna to review strategies ahead of new challenges during the year.

    The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Sadique Abubakar said while opening the meeting on Wednesday that the Nigerian Air Force would continue to add value to the fight against all forms of security challenges in the country.

    He told the commanders that the air personnel have made very significant contributions to the successes recorded in the war against insurgency across the country.

    Abubakar said the meeting was to review what tranpared in the first and second quarter and make suggestions on ways to enhance the professional efficiency of the service.

    The Chief of Air Staff stressed that the meeting was to appraise the activities of the air force in terms of operations, logistics and other activities, so as to articulates a road map for the second quarter.

    “Since the beginning of the year, we have substantially achieved much, but we still have to do more.

    “Our desire is to continue to carry out our functions professionally and ensure we return its integrity and Nigeria is not undermined by anybody or group of individuals.

    “The Nigeria Air Force has played substantial role and we will continue to play that role more importantly in the South South.”

    He commended the governments of Zamfara, Imo and Osun for their tremendous support to the air force.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Abubakar also inaugurated the control tower of 401 Flight Unit.

    According to him, the control tower will add value to what is already on ground at the base.

    He described the facility as a very important infrastructure to flying activities of the military in Kaduna area.

    “What we have here now is a better equipment, stress-free compared to what was there before.

    “We believe that what we have here is going to add value to what we are doing in terms of training and air traffic control,” he said.

  • NAF reaffirms commitment to girl child education

    The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, said the Nigerian Air Force would continue to give necessary support to girl child education in the country.

    Abubakar made the statement when the Air Force Girls Alumni Association of Nigeria (AGAAN) paid him a courtesy visit at the NAF Headquarters on Tuesday in Abuja.

    He said the service had contributed significantly to the progress of AGAAN and girl child education generally in the country.

    He said the service, in its efforts to support girl child education, had built NAF Girls Secondary Schools in Abuja, and in Kauran Namoda, Zamfara.

    “We are converting NAF Girls Secondary School in Kaduna to a boarding school, to alleviate the suffering of the students for waking up early morning to join the bus to school.

    “We have completed the dining hall and other facilities. So, by September everything would have been completed and the boarding system will take-off,” he said.

    He said that the service was also making efforts to establish a NAF Girls Secondary School in Maiduguri to enable the girls there to have the opportunity to go to school.

    The Vice President of the Association, Hajia Zainab Gambo, said the purpose of the visit was to officially invite the chief of air staff to the organisation’s proposed inauguration of a project, tagged ” Visitor’s Park’’ at its Secretariat.

    Gambo said the visit was also to thank CAS for his support to the organisation, especially in the area of girl child education and his efforts so far in boosting professionalism in the service.

     

  • Insurgency: Air Force to deploy more platforms to Yola

    Insurgency: Air Force to deploy more platforms to Yola

    As the onslaught against the Boko Haram terrorist Boko Haram sect continues, the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar has disclosed that more platforms will be moved to Yola, the Adamawa State capital next week.
    ‎He made the disclosure at the weekend in Lagos, during his maiden tour of Air Force command and units in the state.
    Abubakar who stated that one air craft will be deployed from Lagos to Yola, added that several helicopters will also be moved from Port Harcourt to the northeastern state.
    Noting that a number of aircrafts were patrolling the Nigeria-Cameroon border frequently, Abubakar said the AirForce has on several occasions, intercepted and engaged people who smuggle petroleum products to the insurgents.
    “We have our airplanes that are patrolling the Nigeria-Cameroon border at all times and we have intercepted quite a number of people that are smuggling petroleum products to support the insurgents and we have engaged them on a number of occasions,” Abubakar said.
    He further stated that plans were underway to acquire new equipments as well as rehabilitate those that are moribund.
    The Air Chief said: “‎One of our platforms is moving out of Lagos to Yola by next week and quite a number of our helicopters are moving from Port Harcourt to Yola too.
    “We are already working on acquiring new platforms. There are a number of platforms we want to acquire which we are forwarding to the Federal Government.
    “But at the moment, we are working with the ones we have on ground and trying to reactivate some.‎
    “We are not ill-equipped rather we do not have all that we need to have and we are working to improve on the serviceability of the platforms we have.
    “We have been achieving and working closely with the Nigerian Army using the platforms that we have. They might not be adequate, but we are making the best out of what we have on ground and it is producing results.”