CHIEF of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, on Tuesday said the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) is expecting 19 jet fighters to aid its fight against insurgency and banditry across the country.
Abubakar stated this when he defended NAF’s 2021 budget estimates before the Senate Committee on Air Force at the National Assembly in Abuja.
The CAS said the NAF had carried out operation for over 60,000 hours with half of those in the Northeast to fight insurgency.
“We are expecting three J-17 fighters from Pakistan, 12 super Tucano from the United States, one M-171 and three special mission aircraft from the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
“We are talking of about 19 additional aircraft,” he said.
Reacting to the development last night, NAF Director Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, explained that the Federal Government buys the aircraft for NIMASA and hand them over to NAF.
The CAS also said one hanger had been relocated to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, to support aircraft maintenance.
Sadique said the NAF had trained 119 pilots from Liberia Air Force in support of the West African country’s military.
He added that about 200 personnel were receiving training in nine different countries.
“We are expecting that these pilots would soon join their colleagues in the fight against insecurity,” he said.
A member of the committee, Sani Musa (Niger East), urged the Federal Government to dedicate resources and deploy technology to fight insurgency.
The lawmaker regretted that the N1 billion allocated for training was not enough for serious training, research and development.
Committee Chairman Bala Ibn Na’Allah said the panel would be willing to visit the Northeast for on-the-spot assessment of the region.
He praised the NAF for efforts to rid the Northeast of insurgency.
