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The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Abubakar Sadiq, has renewed the loyalty and support of the Nigerian Air Force to President Muhammadu Buhari, Commander-In-Chief of the Nigeria Armed Forces.
Sadiq gave the assurance through Air Commodore, Muhammed Yusuf, Commander 153 Base Services Group, Yola, who represented him at the Chief of the Air Force Eid-el-Fitr Luncheon organised with troops in the North East on Monday in Yola.
He said the get together was a tradition to bring the Air personnel in the region together, adding that the Nigeria Air Force base in Yola would continue to play a vital role in the fight against insurgency in the northeast.
”Let me assure our loyalty to the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari, for his constant support to the Nigeria Air Forces,” he said.
”The get together is a tradition being organised by the Nigeria Air Force to facilitate the front Air personnel in the North East region during the festivity.
”And the Nigeria Air Force is committed to ensure our country is safe and people can go to their normal activities.”
Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa who hosted the event appreciated the Nigeria Air Force’s role in the fight against COVID-19 in the state.
Governor Fintiri, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Prof. Maxwell Gidado, recalled that before the opening of COVID-19 test centre in Yola, the state government relied on Nigeria Air Force to carry samples of suspected patients to Abuja for the test.
”The Nigeria Air Force had also rendered social services to our people which include education and healthcare services,” the governor acknowledged.
The Air Chief who also hosted similar Sallah luncheon for frontline troops of the NAF at the headquarters of Air Task Force Operation Lafiya Dole in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, announced that ventilators locally fabricated by the NAF scientists are now ready for the treatment of COVID-19 and other respiratory-related diseases.
He said the fabrication of the ventilators were made through the collaborative efforts of the Force engineers and the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, adding that it will ‘complement government’s effort in the fight against COVID-19’.
“Whilst sustaining the fight against the seen enemy, NAF personnel must also maintain vigilance and ensure strict adherence to the guidelines and protocols to overcome COVID-19, which is the invisible enemy of humanity,” Sadiq stated.
“The NAF had distributed reusable face masks to all staff as well as Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and ventilators to the NAF Hospital in Maiduguri.
“The NAF engineers, in collaboration with the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, had equally developed locally-produced emergency ventilators that had been tested and made ready for use, which would be unveiled during the week.
“The NAF, despite the challenges of competing demands for resources and the COVID-19 induced lockdown had through pragmatic logistics planning and foresight, maintained the tempo of its operations, not only in the North-east, but also in other parts of the country.”
He stressed the need for robust synergy among security agencies “to consolidate on the gains recorded in the fight against insurgency and other criminal activities in the country”.
“The contributions of Air Task Force Operation Lafiya Dole has shaped the war against insurgency in the North-east and provided freedom of action for the ground troops.
“Working in synergy with sister services and other security agencies, (we) would continue to evolve new methods and emplace new strategies aimed at eliminating all forms of criminal elements in the country.”
“We have kept the pace in training of both air and ground crews, developed the regiment specialty to defend our bases and increased the force structure of the service, whilst building more accommodation and office infrastructure to cope with the growth.
“Our units are flying the NAF flags across the country. The latest of these is in Lafia, where the 22 Quick Response Wing was recently activated with the injection of additional Special Forces (SF) personnel.”
