Unrest: Airforce deploys armed helicopter, personnel to Southern Kaduna

• As Institutes Graduates 249 Students
As part of efforts to restore peace to Southern Kaduna, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has deployed an armed helicopter with force protection elements and other logistics support to Kafanchan, Kaduna State. 

A statement signed by Air Force spokesman, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, in Abuja, yesterday, said the deployment, which was at the instance of the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, was to complement efforts of the surface forces already on ground to keep peace in the area. 

According to him, NAF personnel and other supporting staff would operate from a newly established NAF Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Kafanchan and would be reinforced with the NAF Special Forces to protect lives and property, as well as end the incessant clashes in the area.

Adesanya added that NAF had on Wednesday deployed air assets and personnel to Takum, Taraba State to maintain peace and provide air cover for the ground troops in the area.

He noted that NAF has also extended its reach, with the commissioning of 213 FOB in Katsina and the Quick Response Wing (QRW) in Daura, as part of its continued efforts to extend the reach of the NAF to the northwest geopolitical zone, thus reducing the NAF’s response time to crisis situations in the zone. 

Meanwhile, the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) has graduated 249 students in various aerospace engineering and related fields at its 46th convocation ceremony.