The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has said that one of the air bases of the Nigerian Air Force may be attacked according to intelligence report.
A statement issued by Air Force spokesman, Olatokunbo Adesanya in Abuja, at the weekend, said Abubakar stated this while addressing participants at a retreat held between May 25 and 26, 2017 in Kaduna.
The retreat was aimed at further educating relevant stakeholders on the new NAF base defence concept, which is premised on the development and deployment of an air-minded ground defence force, trained and equipped as special light infantry and capable of operating both inside and outside the base perimeter against contemporary threats while leveraging on intelligence and available modern technology.
“Given the importance of bases in the airpower delivery matrix, it is not inconceivable to expect our adversaries to target our bases. As a matter of fact, we have had an attack on one of our airbases in the recent past, and current intelligence reports keep highlighting the possibility of attacks on our bases.
“All these reinforce the need to emplace a robust base defence concept that is capable of providing guidance for responding to a wide range of situations that may threaten our bases.”
Abubakar, who was the Special Guest of Honour at the retreat, reminded participants that despite its potency, airpower still has limitations, one of which is the issue of security of bases, adding that the current NAF leadership, however, viewed the concept as being no longer tenable and thus introduced the more robust base defence concept into the service in 2016.
“Nevertheless, recent evaluations of the Bases revealed that many commanders and bases were yet to imbibe and adopt the tenets of the new base defence concept.
“The retreat therefore afforded participants the opportunity to rub minds and exchange ideas and experiences towards engendering effective implementation of the new concept across the NAF.
