The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshall Sadique Abubakar has said that the 20 newly inducted military working dogs and their handlers will be deployed to troubled roads including Kaduna-Abuja, Kaduna-Birnbin Gwari and some other places in the South West.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony of NAF K-9 Handlers Course in Kaduna, the air chief said in terms of incessant cases of crime on Nigerian roads, joint effort is needed saying, “We have to keep working jointly to ensure our country is secure and our people are secured.”
According to Abubakar, “The decision to establish the Military Working Dogs’ operation in the Nigerian Air Force was borne out of the need to evolve more effective and synergistic approaches for the protection of NAF assets, as well as in the provision of adequate support in times of Military Aid to Civil Authority.
“The graduating personnel have undergone a 13-week intensive advanced K-9 training, with 10 weeks of the training conducted at the Paramount K-9 facility overseas, and 3 weeks conducted in-country to situate the skill sets acquired to our local requirements. Among the Military Working Dogs and handlers graduating today, 10 are trained in explosive detection, 5 are narcotic detection dogs, while 5 are special operations dogs capable of explosive or narcotic detection, as well as tracking of adversary movements and positions within an area of operation.
He stated that whereas, the NAF had earlier in 2016 inducted 20 Military Working Dogs with narcotics and explosive detection capabilities, the import of inducting special operations dogs in the second batch of training, is to provide the Air Provost with the capacity and capability to conduct specialized policing functions in support of the roles of Special Operations Command.
He noted that a new K-9 wing under the 057 Provost Investigation Group has been established in Bauchi, with state-of-the-art facilities for K-9 development and administration.
He added, “Indeed, the outlook for future K-9 development in the Service, is to increase the K-9 holding with the addition of 20 more Special Operations Dogs that would increase the Provost’s potential to detect, track and provide early warning of adversary positions while also providing the psychological effects of dogs on adversaries. Thus, K-9 development is projected to be a force multiplier to the operational exploits of the NAF’s aircrew and ground personnel.
The K-9, is a military working dog that is specially trained to assist personnel and other law enforcement agencies in dictating and combating crime. Their duties include search for drugs and explosives, locating missing people, finding crimes scene evidence and attacking people targeted by the police.
