NAF opens retreat to promote indigenous technologies

Chairman of Tangaza Local Council of Sokoto State, Alhaji Isa Salihu Kalenjeni, has raised the alarm over a foreign-based armed religious group occupying a forest across five council areas of the state, saying the group offers “youths N1 million for membership.”
   
The group, locally known as Lakurawa, was said to have migrated from Libya, Mali and Niger Republic, and camped at Tsauni Forest, which stretches up to Niger Republic.
   
Lakuwarawa was said to have launched one of the deadliest attacks in the area that resulted in the killing of four soldiers on patrol along Gudu Road recently.
   
Speaking to newsmen, Kalenjeni explained that members of the group had reportedly been preaching and imposing some laws in the neighbouring villages.
  
“They are forcing people to pay Zakkat, and at the same time, robbing people of their belongings. Just recently, they robbed a shop owner of N2 million. They also seized his car and released it after he paid N350,000,” the chairman said. He added that the armed group, which claimed to be fighting the Nigerian government, had also robbed four motorcycles in Balle, the headquarters of the Gudu council area.  Kalenjeni said the bandits, who had been terrorising locals, had joined forces with the group.
   
Also corroborating the claim, the deputy governor, Idris Gobir, said an assessment carried out indicated that the group possessed sophisticated weapons and their criminal activities were observed in about five council areas of the state.
  
Gobir described Lakurawas as “a faith-based group with idealistic views. They possess sophisticated weapons, with criminal activities reported across five local government areas in Sokoto.
  
“This unsettling development has emerged at a time when the state is already grappling with persistent banditry.”

ALSO yesterday, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), yesterday, opened its 2024 Research and Development (R&D) Retreat in Abuja to strengthen indigenous technology and innovation,
   
The two-day retreat brings together experts and key stakeholders and focuses on advancing home-grown technology to enhance national defence capabilities.  
  
 Declaring open the event, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, spoke on the important roles of R&D in reducing foreign dependence and strengthening self-sustained operational capabilities.
  
He said his first-hand experiences as a field commander underscored the necessity of this shift, especially as the NAF prepares to incorporate 50 new aircraft between 2024 and 2026. 
 
The CAS pointed out that building indigenous capacity for aircraft manufacturing and maintenance would be essential to sustaining NAF’s fleet sustenance and operational effectiveness.
 
He stated that the retreat would provide a crucial platform for experts to “generate ideas that will transform the Nigerian Air Force’s R&D efforts from initial concepts to tangible, operational outcomes.”