The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has reaffirmed its commitment to continue to safeguard the nation’s territorial integrity against any form of threat.
The Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar made the promise when the Senate Committee on NAF paid him an oversight visit at the service headquarters on Monday in Abuja.
Abubakar acknowledged the contributions of the committee to the establishment of Nigerian Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna State, which is a degree and diploma awarding institution.
“I am also very excited with progress the institution is making at the moment. Just recently, the institution graduated about 500 students in various fields of endeavour,” he said.
Abubakar explained that all the efforts are geared toward having highly professional and disciplined personnel who are able to safeguard the territorial integrity of the country.
He disclosed that the Federal Government has approved the restructuring of the service to enable it discharge its responsibilities of safeguarding the nation.
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Abubakar said that since 2015, the service has witnessed tremendous changes by establishing additional commands, such as field commands, and additional branches at its headquarters.
“Today, we have the flag of NAF flying in most of the branches than we had back in 2015. We have established a unit command in Agatu, Benue being one of the areas facing serious security challenges some years back,” he said.
According to Abubakar, apart from Agatu, NAF has also established a unit command in Gembu, Taraba, due to the security challenges some years back between farmers and herders.
He noted that all the efforts were geared toward safeguarding the country as well as bringing security closer to Nigerians.
Abubakar said the service had also establishe unit commands in Plateau, Owerri, and Lafia which were hitherto not in existence before 2015.
The CAS said that the service had been able to establish unit commands virtually in all parts of North-East as against only two.
The Chairman Senate Committee on Air Force, Sen. Bala Na’Allah, representing Kebbi South Senatorial District, said the purpose of the visit was to afford the committee the opportunity to take a stock of the activities of the service.
“We are here to know what you are doing, especially in the area of security of the country, your challenges, as well as how to go about addressing them,” Na’Allah said.