Era Of Treating Terrorists With Kid Glove Over – Air Marshal Abubakar

The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar has said that the era of handling issues of insurgency lightly is over, vowing to intensify offensive operations against terrorists ravaging the North West and North East sections of the country.

Abubakar disclosed this while giving his remark at the 2023 graduation of 628 officers and personnel of the Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna State, Saturday.

He was represented by Air Vice Marshal Nnamdi Ananaba, Air Officer Commanding, Air Training Command, Kaduna.

He said, “May I also use this opportunity to commend the lecturers and instructors for their diligence and sacrifice towards producing quality technical manpower for the Nigerian Air Force.

“Nevertheless, I urge you to constantly improve on the standards towards ensuring that your graduates are up-to-date with cutting-edge technology and global best practices in aircraft and equipment maintenance.

“Let me reiterate here that the era of treating criminal elements in our country with kid gloves is over. We must continue on this trajectory until we bring all of them to their knees.”

The Air Force Institute of Technology is a training ground for military and civilians in aerospace, defence and engineering as well as other fields.

Despite military operations recorded in the past eight months, terrorists are reportedly migrating to the North East.

The Northeast Governors’ Forum (NEGF) which recently held its meeting, described the situation as “becoming worse in Bauchi, Gombe and Taraba, places hitherto without banditry”.

They called on the Federal Government to urgently intervene to address the issue.