Herdsmen Crisis: Nigeria Air Force To Establish Base In Taraba

Nigerian Air Force fighter jet

As part of efforts to combat the persistent clash between herdsmen and farmers in the country, the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) has disclosed plans to establish a Forward Operational Base (FOB) in Taraba State.

The Chief of the Air Staff, CAS, Sadique Abubakar, revealed this on Thursday while delivering a lecture to participants of National Defence College (NDC) Course 26 in Abuja, titled, ‘The Nigerian Air Force – Challenges and Future Perspectives’.

He also disclosed plans to establish a Quick Response Wing along the Benue-Nasarawa Axis.

The air chief who explained his vision for the NAF and efforts being expended to actualize it, stated the current and likely threats as well as contingencies from the perspective of air operations and the strategic measures to tackle them.

He highlighted some of the visions as the establishment of new commands and some units, improvement in human capacity development, improved aircraft service ability and logistics support as well as enhanced personnel welfare.

In his remarks, the Commandant of NDC, Adeniyi Osinowo, said it was evident that the current NAF leadership is taking a lot of laudable and unprecedented steps, especially in the area of technological development, in a bid to reposition the NAF for greatness.

“You cannot win any war today without an effective and virile Air Force,” Osinowo said.

He commended NAF for its achievements in local designing and production of an operational Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, among many other breakthroughs in the area of research and development.

He also congratulated the air chief on the recent passage of the bill establishing the Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna, which he believed would further enhance technological growth in the NAF.