Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, has charged Nigerian Air Force (NAF) operational Commanders in the various theatres of operation across the country to ‘show no mercy’ and employ maximum firepower against terrorists posing security threats in the country.
According to Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, NAF’s Director of Public Relations and Information, who disclosed this in a statement Tuesday, Amao made the charge when he met with frontline Air Officers Commanding (AOC) and Air Component Commanders (ACCs) Tuesday, 2 August, 2022, at the NAF Base in Kaduna.
TheFact Daily notes that the charge was coming on the heels of President Muhammadu Buhari’s revelation,Tuesday, through his spokesman, Garba Shehu, that he had given Nigeria’s security forces full freedom to wipe off bandits and other criminals terrorising Nigerians.
Air Marshal Amao, while addressing the Commanders, underscored the need for effective allocation and utilization of all NAF platforms deployed for operations in the Northwest and North-central for enhanced operational effectiveness, and to deny the terrorists freedom of movement while boosting the confidence of the populace and ensuring a peaceful country.
The CAS, who conceded uncertainty in the security environment, given the movement of terrorists between the north-east, north-west and north central, stressed that the need to continually modify NAF’s air power strategies to stay ahead of the asymmetric and unconventional nature of terrorists’ activities was of paramount importance.
“We have a responsibility to secure our nation and give our citizens a sense of hope, trust and belonging.
“Therefore, we must ensure that we stay ahead of the enemy and envisage his next line of action”, he stated.
Air Marshal Amao commended the Commanders for their efforts and the improved synergy with sister Services and other Security agencies, and assured them that training of more combat pilots, imagery analysts and other specialties in the NAF would continue to be of utmost priority to address the manpower challenges within the operation areas.
He further disclosed that efforts were at an advanced stage to procure more combat platforms for the NAF to meet the ever-increasing demands of air assets in various theatres of operations across the nation.
