The Governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, has commended the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) for consistent responsiveness in its counter-insurgency operations in Borno State and the entire North East of the Country.
He said the commitment and dedication of the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, as well as officers, airmen and airwomen of the NAF had curtailed the activities of the insurgents and limited their scope of operations.
Governor Zulum disclosed this Tuesday, 11 August 2020, when he visited the CAS at Headquarters NAF Abuja.
Speaking further, the Borno State Governor, while commending the NAF for its consistent contributions towards the restoration of lasting peace to Borno State and other States in the North East, equally appreciated the Service for regularly providing airlift support to the State Government.
He equally commended the NAF’s laudable humanitarian interventions in the State, including its numerous medical outreaches and the Level 2 Hospitals established by the Service at the Bama and Dalori Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camps, which provide free, qualitative healthcare services to the IDPs.
While highlighting the need for political solutions to address the root causes of the insurgency, which, he said, included poverty, illiteracy and unemployment, amongst others, the Governor noted that there was urgent need to ensure the return of IDPs to their homes in a safe and dignified manner.
He further noted that, while the State had suffered a number of attacks in the past 2 years or so, over 90 per cent of these had been successfully repelled through the robust, timely actions of the Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation LAFIYA DOLE, and therefore commended the ATF for its consistent speedy response.
“Whenever I receive any report of an attack or crisis in any location, I immediately call the ATF Commander and within a few minutes, the NAF aircraft are usually airborne to deal with the issue”, he added.
The Governor said Borno State and indeed the entire Nation would therefore continually remain indebted to the efforts of the NAF under the current leadership.
He, however, solicited for sustained joint air and land offensive against specific areas within the Lake Chad and Sambisa Forest areas, observing specifically that the Lake Chad was, at a time, responsible for employment of over 10 Million people.
He said there was need to ensure a return of normalcy to the area in order for the people to reap the socio-economic benefits of the Lake.
In his response, the CAS noted that the NAF, in collaboration with sister Services and other security agencies, would continue to work tirelessly to ensure the security of the people of Borno State and the entire North East.
He assured the Governor that the Armed Forces of Nigeria and other security agencies would not allow any individual or groups to undermine the Nation’s territorial integrity or sovereignty.
Air Marshal Abubakar noted that, the ability of the Service to carry out its constitutional roles had continued to be boosted by the provision of adequate resources by the Federal Government.
He assured the Governor that, with the increased presence of the NAF in all the States of the North East as well as the deployment of additional air assets, insurgency and other forms of insecurity would soon be stamped out.
