Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai on Saturday appealed to the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar to help in the deployment of Nigerian Airforce (NAF) special forces to man the Kaduna- Abuja highway to help address recurring kidnaps.
He also appealed to the CAS to establish another detachment in Kajuru local government area of the state
Speaking at he commissioned the 271 Nigerian Air Force detachment in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna, he commended the Emir of Birnin Gwari, Jibril Zubairu Maigwari II for donating part of his land for the detachment establishment while assuring that the state government would ensure that he his compensated accordingly.
According to him, “The prevalence of terrorism, armed banditry and kidnapping, has increased in recent times. And we are grateful that the Armed Forces of Nigeria, particularly the NAF, is boosting security operations and developing even more effective strategies to end this menace.
“The establishment of the 271 NAF Detachment Birnin Gwari is therefore timely, as it will further boost the ongoing Operation DIRAN MIKIYA, Operation SHARAN DAJI and play a very crucial role in restoring and maintaining the peace in all affected areas.
“While we recognize the efforts of the Nigerian Air Force, we also want to appeal to the Chief of Air Staff to approve the deployment of NAF Special Forces for the Abuja-Kaduna road to participate in the new Joint security operations aimed at confronting the prevalence of armed banditry and kidnapping that has bedevilled the road for the last two years”.
Earlier in his address, the CAS said, the NAF for some time now has been involved in various internal security operations in the country, either alone or in conjunction with sister Services. One of such operations is Operation DIRAN MIKIYA, which he said is intended to neutralise and flush out armed bandits and kidnappers as well as cattle rustlers operating in the North-West region.
“Accordingly, the 271 NAF Detachment was established as a blocking force for troops involved in Operation DIRAN MIKIYA and SHARAN DAJI.
The 271 NAF detachment is the brain child of the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Air Marshal Sadiq Baba Abubakar as part of efforts at combacting the persistent insecurity in the area.
