The Nigerian Airforce said on Tuesday, it was expecting delivery of 19 additional aircraft in the fight against insecurity in the North East.
The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, stated this while defending the 2021 budget proposed by the service before the Senate Committee on Air Force
He said, “We are expecting three J-17 fighters from Pakistan, 12 super Tucano United States, one M-171 and three special mission aircraft from the NIMASA
“We are talking of about 19 additional aircraft.” The CAS also said one hanger had been relocated to Maiduguri to support aircraft maintenance.
Sadique said the NAF had trained 119 pilots from Liberia Air Force in support of the West African 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. He added that the series of training had greatly improved the efficiency of the NAF in operations.
A member of the committee, Senator Sani Musa, said the Federal Government must rededicate resources and deploy technology to fight insurgency. He complained that N1bn was meagre for serious training, research and development.
The chairman of the committee, Senator Bala Ibn N’Allah, said the panel would be willing to visit the North East for on-the-spot assessment of the region. He commended the NAF for efforts to rid the North East of insurgency.
He said, “The committee is willing and ready for two on-the-spot visits to the theatre (of terrorism) maybe Maiduguri and elsewhere so that we can register formally our appreciation to the efforts of the Air Force to the challenges of insecurity.”
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