North East Can Never be Tereor-Free -COAS

The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal
Sadiq Abubakar, has said violence
cannot be eradicated totally in the
North Eastern region of the
country, adding that security
agencies are doing their best to
tackle insurgency.

Abubakar spoke on Tuesday during
his visit to the Logistics Command
of the Nigerian Air Force, Sam
Ethnan Base, Ikeja, Lagos.
The COAS, who inaugurated several
projects at the base, noted that the
fight against terrorism had
improved under the present
administration, saying the era of
Boko Haram terrorists moving in
convoys and destroying villages had
become a rarity.
He said, “In the North Eastern part
of Nigeria, we are making progress.
We may have challenges of suicide
bombings here and there, but that
will end soon.
“There cannot be zero violence;
violence will still be there. But
everything humanly possible will be
done to have a peaceful and stable
environment in the North-East so
that people can go about their
business in peace.
“We are doing so much in terms of
close air support. We are providing
an enabling environment for the
surface forces to function. We
soften the ground for the surface
forces to function. We are
providing logistics-in-supply,
rotational transportation, and also
moving equipment.
“In 2014 and 2015, Boko Haram
was moving in convoys of 15 or 20
vehicles from village to village and
killing people. You will agree that
that has stopped.”
While on a visit to the Lagos State
Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, the
COAS noted that the Logistics
Command, Lagos, was strategic to
the operation of the air force,
especially in supplying equipment
to further the war against
insurgency and other criminal
activities in the country.
In his remarks, Ambode stressed the
need for the state government and
the NAF to collaborate in mounting
air surveillance on the waterways
in the state to nip in the bud all
criminal activities on waters.
He said, “The state government is
sensitive to security issues and in
the last 11 months, we have tried as
much as possible to put security on
the front burner of our tripod in
running Lagos State. We believe
strongly that security and
development are twins. There is no
way we can develop if there is no
security and that is why we are
laying more emphasis on protecting
the lives and property in Lagos on
the road, waterways and in the air.
“We have contributed some
helicopters to the Rapid Response
Squad of the Nigeria Police Force. I
commend President Muhammadu
Buhari for the recent approval
given to the Nigerian Air Force to
procure more helicopters and going
by the fact that Lagos is the logistics
base of the Air Force, we know we
will benefit from that as well.”