Twenty-four hours after the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, was ordered to remain in the North-East to coordinate army operations, the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, has also directed the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, to relocate to the region until the security situation improved.
This was the outcome of the Air Council meeting on Tuesday in Abuja chaired by the minister, where the air chief was also mandated to “reorganise air operations in support of Operations Lafiya Dole in North-East and Sharan Daji in North-West.”
The Public Relations Officer to the minister, Col Tukur Gusau, said in a release after the meeting that Abubakar was ordered to join Buratai in the North-East war theatre.
He said, “The Air Council under the chairmanship of the Minister of Defence sat on Tuesday and deliberated on general issues concerning the Nigerian Air Force, especially in operational roles in support of various operations across the country.
“Among other things, the council directed the Chief of the Air Staff to join the Chief of Army Staff in the North-East to coordinate the NAF operations. Similarly, he is directed to reorganise air operations in support of Lafiya Dole and Sharan Daji.”
The minister had on Monday also instructed the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin, to effect changes in the leadership of military operations; Lafiya Dole, Delta Safe, Sharan Daji and Awatse .
The defence minister had said that President Muhammadu Buhari had also directed the “emergency procurement of critical equipment” for the armed forces to be more efficient.
“The President and Commander-in-Chief has also directed the emergency procurement of critical equipment for the armed forces of Nigeria in line with the Federal Government’s policy on procuring equipment from original equipment manufacturers through a government-to-government basis,” Gusau, the minister’s spokesperson, had said.
