Air Force chief orders troops to stop Zamfara killings

The Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar has issued marching order to personnel of the force to deploy resources at their disposal towards ending killings in Zamfara State and its environs.

Abubakar gave the directive yesterday during an operational visit to Katsina for preliminary assessment of the Operation Diran Mikiya.

He directed that air power’s inherent lethality and firepower should be employed to dominate the area and sustain the onslaught on the armed bandits to end the killings and restore peace to the affected areas.

A statement Marshal Adesanya, by Air Vice Olatokunbo the visit said afforded the CAS the opportunity to obtain first hand information on the status of troops, aircraft, ground support equipment and logistics support facilities that had been deployed to ensure the effective conduct of the operation.

The CAS, who was accompanied on the visit by senior officers from Headquarters Nigerian Air Force (HQ NAF), was received at the Umar Musa Yar’adua Airport in Katsina by the new Air Officer Commanding Special Operations Command, Air Vice Marshal Samson Akpasa.

The Air Component Commander (ACC) Operation Sharan Daji, Air Commodore Ayoola Jolasinmi, had earlier stated that the intensive operation was aimed at locating and neutralizing armed bandits and other criminal elements, with a view to restoring normalcy in Zamfara State and the Northwest as a whole.

He then briefed the CAS and his entourage on the current administrative and logistics situation in the theatre of operation, as well as the detailed plan to ensure the success of the operation towards protecting lives and properties of the civil populace.