Nigerian Air Force Deploys Additional Air Assets To North East, Commences Operation Diran Mikiya

Speaking today after launching the Operation, the new Air Officer Commanding (AOC) Special Operations Command (SOC), Air Vice Marshal Samson Akpasa, stated that fighter aircraft, helicopter gunships as well as Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms alongside necessary equipment and personnel had been deployed for the conduct of OPERATION DIRAN MIKIYA. He noted that the Operation, which was being conducted in close coordination with other security agencies, would be executed with precision and high intensity to quickly degrade the armed bandits and pave way for the return of normalcy in the affected areas. He emphasized that “there would be no hiding place for the armed bandits” as the NAF would be employing all the means at its disposal to detect the movement and locations of the armed bandits.

The AOC SOC, who has just been appointed as part of steps taken by the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, to give additional impetus to NAF operations in the North West, later conducted an aerial reconnaissance mission over Gusau and environs. The newly appointed Air Component Commander OPERATION SHARAN DAJI, Air Commodore Ayoola Jolasinmi, accompanied him on the mission, during which they visited some critical areas of interest. The NAF continues to solicit credible intelligence from locals, traditional heads, local government chairmen and other government functionaries to facilitate the timely accomplishment of the task at hand.