Nigerian Air Force War College Undertakes Frontline Security Assessment To Strengthen Counter-Insurgency Operations
Participants of Air War Course 12/2026 from the Air Force War College Nigeria (AFWCN) have concluded a high-level National Study Tour across Sokoto, Kebbi, and Zamfara States aimed at strengthening strategic understanding of evolving security threats and enhancing proactive warfighting capacity against terrorism, banditry, and other asymmetric threats in the North-West region. The study tour, themed “State Resources and Air Power: National Development in North-West Nigeria in Perspective,” provided participants with firsthand operational exposure through direct engagements with local communities, traditional institutions, security stakeholders, and state authorities on prevailing security and developmental realities. The exercise further underscores the Nigerian Air Force’s commitment under the leadership of the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, to advancing intelligence-driven and people-focused approaches to national security operations.
Speaking during engagements across the region, the Team Leader and Commandant AFWCN, Air Vice Marshal GA Mbaka, stated that the participants were divided into 3 teams deployed to Sokoto, Kebbi, and Zamfara States respectively to ensure wider operational coverage and deeper situational assessment. He noted that the exercise was deliberately structured to obtain real-time operational updates from frontline theatres while examining how air power, state resources, and institutional collaboration can be effectively integrated to neutralise emerging threats and support sustainable development. During the tour, participants engaged military formations, sister security agencies, traditional rulers, state governments, and operators of critical mineral infrastructure, gaining valuable insight into ongoing counter-banditry and counter-terrorism operations. The engagements highlighted the decisive role of air power in intelligence gathering, rapid response missions, surveillance operations, and protection of critical national assets across vulnerable areas.
The study tour further reinforced the Nigerian Air Force’s evolving strategy of synchronising kinetic and non-kinetic operations to deny criminal elements freedom of action while strengthening public trust and civil cooperation. Beyond battlefield engagements, participants examined the socio-economic and historical factors fueling insecurity, reaffirming the importance of community partnerships and civil-military collaboration in achieving lasting peace and stability. Host state governments commended the initiative as timely and operationally relevant to prevailing security realities, pledging continued support towards collective efforts aimed at restoring peace and strengthening national security. As a critical component of the Air War Course, the National Study Tour continues to bridge operational doctrine with battlefield realities, equipping future commanders with the strategic foresight, combat readiness, and operational adaptability required to confront emerging threats and safeguard Nigeria’s territorial integrity.
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