Tag: AIR FORCE

‘Nigerian Air Force paid bandits N20m to avoid shooting down Buhari’s presidential jet’ - Report 

Aminu Imam

…NAF denies making any payments In a desperate deal that was brokered as President Muhammadu Buhari was planning a trip to Katsina State, the Nigerian Air Force, (NAF), allegedly coordinated ransom payments to armed bandits in exchange for an anti-aircraft gun seized from the Nigerian Army, the Wall Street Journal has reported. According to the Journal, “N20 million was delivered to the bandits in Rugu Forest by a NAF official, who leaked details of the operation under anonymity because the military realised that it would be too risky to leave the weapon…

Read More

’70 terrorists killed’ as NAF jets fire rockets at bandits’ camps in Niger

Aminu Imam

Sustained operations by the air and ground component of Operation Gama Aiki, OPGA, continue to yield tangible results as dozens of terrorists were killed in recent operations in their hideouts. It was gathered that following credible intelligence on the location of bandits’ camps at Jasuwan Garba-Urege axis in Niger State, the air component of OPGA conducted intensive air interdiction of the identified camps using a formation of Agusta 109 and EC 135 helicopter gunships to effectively decimate the camps. A senior military officer involved in the operation said the aircraft…

Read More

Zamfara: 78 bandits killed in airstrikes, camps destroyed

Aminu Imam

Several camps of armed bandits have been destroyed following aggressive airstrikes by Nigerian Air Force (NAF), fighter jets. According to a source who spoke to newsmen yesterday, the NAF jets’ bombardments also killed no fewer than 78 bandits. He said, “Air offensive action against bandits in North-West region received a boost in a 3-day intensive military operation led by the Air Component of ‘Operation Hadarin Daji’. “In its resolve to rid the Region of banditry, the air component focused on locations with a high concentration of bandits, such as South of…

Read More

At last, Nigeria takes delivery of 6 Super Tucano first batch aircrafts from US

Aminu Imam

The Nigerian Air Force,  (NAF), took delivery of the first batch of six A-29 Super Tucano aircraft from the U.S. The Director of Public Relations and Information, NAF Headquarters, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, announced this in a statement in Abuja, yesterday. According to Gabkwet, the aircraft arrived in Kano, at about 12.34 p.m. He added that the officials that received the aircraft included the Minister of Defence, Major.-Gen. Bashir Magashi (rtd); Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya; and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao.

Read More

Security: First batch of 6 Super Tucano aircrafts depart US for Nigeria

Aminu Imam

The first batch of six A-29 Super Tucano aircraft have departed the United States of America en-route Nigeria, the Nigerian Air Force, (NAF), has said. The NAF’s Director of Public Relations and Information, Edward Gabkwet, in a statement yesterday, said the fighter jets departed from the US on Wednesday and are expected in Nigeria anytime soon. The statement was titled: ‘First Batch Of A-29 Super Tucano Aircraft Depart The United States Of America For Nigeria’. It partly read, “The six aircraft will be leapfrogged through 5 countries including Canada, Greenland,…

Read More

Kaduna: Scores of bandits neutralised in air missions across Birnin-Gwari, others

Aminu Imam

Air platforms conducted armed reconnaissance over Chikun, Kusasu, Gadani, Gadani Station, Kwafe, Kuduru, Kugo, Dakolo, Kudame, Abulo, Gidan-Amale, Beni, Akilbu, Polewaya, Rijana and Rugu, in Kachia and Chikun local government areas. According to a press statement issued by the State’s Commissioner, Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Kaduna State, Samuel Aruwan,“Nearly a dozen bandits with herds of cattle were sighted at Rugu, fleeing from the fighter jet. They were engaged and neutralised. He further said that “in a second mission, the following locations were covered: Rahama, Tami, Sabon Birni,…

Read More

Minister urges Air Force War College graduates to apply skills to deal with security challenges

Abdul-Azeez Ahmed Kadir

The Minister of Defence, retired Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi, has urged the 17 graduating participants of the Air Force War College course 6, Makurdi, to apply the skills they acquired during the training in dealing with the new wave of insecurities in the country. Gen. Magashi made the call at the graduation ceremony of the participants at the college premises in Makurdi on Friday. Of the 17 participants, 14 were from the Air Force, one from the Army and two from the Navy. The minister, who was represented by the Chief of…

Read More