The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar on Wednesday 1 August 2018, conducted an operational visit to Katsina to undertake preliminary assessment of the progress of Operation Diran Mikiya.
The visit 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.
Briefing the CAS and visiting team on the conduct of the operation, the Air Component Commander (ACC) Operation Sharan Daji, Air Commodore Ayoola Jolasinmi, 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.
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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.
He emphasized that all troops and attack aircraft would operate strictly within the ambit of the specified Rules of Engagement (ROE), in line with global best practices.
The CAS expressed his satisfaction with the logistics and administrative arrangements so far made to ensure the success of the Operation.
He assured the ACC that the NAF would continue to provide all that was needed to sustain the morale of participating personnel towards the overall success of the Operation.
He then 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.
It would be recalled that the NAF, in compliance with Mr. President’s directives, recently deployed additional air assets and troops to Katsina and Gusau and thereafter immediately commenced Operation Diran Mikiya.
Olatokunbo Adesanya
AVM, Director of Public Relations and Information
