Air Force rotates counter insurgency troops
The Nigerian Air Force has rotated members of its
ground forces fighting alongside troops of the Nigerian Army in the
ongoing counter insurgency campaign.
The troops, who have spent more than six months in the Northeast,
were being replaced by others assembled from the various Air Force
units.
A statement issued yesterday by the Air Force Director of Public
Relations and Information, Air Commodore Dele Alonge, said latest troop
rotation was in line with operational practice.
“It is aimed at reinvigorating the minds of the personnel and their
commitment to the ongoing fight against the Boko Haram terrorists by
replacing the weary hands with fresh ones. The rotation also has the
corollary effect of morale boosting for the troops,” Alonge said.
The statement added that subsisted troops had already been airlifted
with the NAF C-130H aircraft from the theatre of operation to their
various units. “During the short but colourful ceremony, the Commander
of 79 Composite Group Maiduguri, Air Commodore Chris Egwoba, on behalf
of the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, commended the
efforts of the gallant airmen and wished them success in their future
endeavours,” the statement added.
In a related development, Toyota Nigeria Limited yesterday donated
five Hilux vans to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in
Maiduguri, Borno State to aid the ongoing counter insurgency campaign in
the Northeast.
The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Abayomi Gabriel
Olonisakin, who received the vans, expressed profound gratitude to the
management and staff of Toyota.
A statement issued by the Acting Director of Defence Information,
Col. Rabe Abubakar yesterday quoted Gen. Olonisakin as describing the
company’s gesture as a show of public support and approval for MNJTF
actions.
“This donation is a laudable one and very timely too. This shows that
the fight against Boko Haram insurgency will come to an effective end,
going by the presidential directive.
“The provision of adequate security, not only in the northeast but in
all corners of the country, is a task that must be done and done
quickly too,” Olonisakin was quoted to have said.
The CDS, who was represented at the occasion by Air Vice-Marshal
Olutayo Oguntoyinbo, promised that the Hilux vans would be used to
ensure the success of the operation against all forms of guerrilla
movements and cross-border crimes around the Lake Chad Basin.
While charging soldiers to make maximum use of the vehicles, he urged
other companies and corporate organisations in Nigeria and countries
around the Lake Chad Basin to emulate Toyota’s noble gesture.
He called on Nigerians to come forward and support the Nigerian Military in the ongoing campaign against terror.
In his own remarks, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Tukur
Buratai, said the vehicles would be used effectively to achieve the
MNJTF’s mandate of defeating the Boko Haram terror group in all the
areas they occupied.
“The Hilux van would be put to most effective use for the achievement
of the three mandates of MNJTF, namely to defeat the insurgents in all
the countries they exist whether in Nigeria, Niger Republic, Chad or
Cameroon, and to facilitate the humanitarian and logistics needs of
troops in the conduct of their duties by providing escort and security
for them.
The Army Chief was also quoted to have said the vehicles would be
used for the distribution of materials to the Internally Displaced
Persons (IDPs), to re-establish state authority and to create safe
environments for displaced persons to return to their villages and live a
normal life.
The COAS also described the gesture by Toyota as a very important
role in the realization of the presidential directive of routing out
terrorists in three months.
He added that in addition to using the vehicles for patrol purposes,
they would also be used to escort humanitarian support aid to IDPs and
to re-establish civil authority by conveying them to their villages.
Toyota Nigeria’s Managing Director, Mr. Kunle Adeojo, was quoted as
saying that members of his management board had agreed to support the
Armed Forces with the donations.
Adeojo said fighting against insurgents needed the support of all nations and all companies.
He said: “Doing this is a worthy cause indeed for the singular fact
that businesses and potential can only be fully maximised in a safe and
secure society.
“That is why Toyota reckons that the crusade against insurgency
deserves the support and solidarity of all, hence the donation of these
pick-up vans to aid your operations.
The Nation
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