Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari has emphasized the commitment of his administration to crush Boko Haram and all forms of criminality that have bedevilled Nigeria.
Buhari vowed to continue to support the armed forces in any way it could to help them become more effective in the execution of their mandate for the safety and security of the country.
This statement was made by President Buhari while speaking at the induction and commissioning ceremony of the newly acquired NAF MI-171E Helicopter and two reactivated Alpha Jets and one L39ZA aircraft.
Buhari his administration has boosted the capacity of the Nigerian Air Force by 23 brand new aircraft in recent times with more still on the way.
“These 23 new aircraft are aside from the 15 additional aircraft, including 12 Super Tucano aircraft from the United States of America and 3 JF-17 Thunder Multi-Role Fighter aircraft from Pakistan that have been procured and will soon be delivered.”
He said these were aside reactivating over 25 erstwhile unserviceable aircraft, “significantly boosting the capacity of the Service to deliver robust airpower in support of our counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency efforts.”.
He said he had released two Agusta 101 helicopters from the Presidential Air Fleet to the Nigerian Air Force to improve its tactical lift capability.
He hailed security forces for successes recorded so far, especially by restoring “some level of stability not only in Borno and Yobe States but also in Adamawa State.”
Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Salihi Magashi (retd) said said since assumption of office Buhari has prioritised national security at the top of his agenda and part of it is reequipping the armed forces to enhance their operational effectiveness just as he called on the force to abide by the maintenance schedules of the aircraft to enable the nation get the best out of them.
Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, assured Mr President of the unalloyed loyalty of NAF and its readiness to relentlessly work for the protection of the territorial integrity of the country.