Police, Air Force Personnel Clash In Delta State

Properties worth several millions of naira have been destroyed as the Police and Airforce personnel clashed in a serious shoot-out in Jeddo Community, Okpe Local Government Area of Delta State.

Many people were reportedly serious injured.

The casualties include personnels of the police and Airforce.

There is already serious tension in the once-troubled peaceful Community.

Trouble started when a personnel of the Counter Terrorism Unit, CTU, of the police got engaged in a hot argument with a lady which resulted in a physical assault as the police personnel reportedly slapped the lady who happened to be an air-force personnel’s daughter.

The lady went back home to relate her experience to her father, who reportedly mobilised his men and stormed the spot where his daughter had been assaulted.

The police official also called his colleagues when he sensed that the situation was about to go out of hand.

Security sources disclosed that the Airforce on arriving the scene, opened fire, which was replied by the Police Special Squad, with people scampering for safety.

The incident scared most residents out of their homes.

Although efforts to get an official reaction from the police was not immediately successful as the police spokesman at the Delta State Police Command, DSP Andrew Aniamaka, said he was driving when reached.

By Matthew Omonigho

We Are Winning The War On Terror - Chief Of Air Staff

The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, said on Friday the Nigerian military was winning the war against terrorism in Northern part of the country.

Air Marshal Abubakar stated this while commissioning a one-by-30 unit building at the 115 Special Operations Group (SOG), in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

According to him, the military had demonstrated what he tagged as ‘strong commitment’ in safeguarding the nation’s territory, adding that troops were determined to tackle terrorism effectively.

“Certainly, we are winning the war against terrorism in the North East. If you look at where we are coming from in 2014, when convoys of 15 -20 Hilux vehicles were moving, ravaging and killing villagers. That is not the situation on ground now.”

By Ameh Comrade Godwin

Nigerian Air Force Helicopter Crashes In Maiduguri

The Nigerian Air Force, NAF, has confirmed the crash of its helicopter on Thursday.

NAF disclosed that the helicopter crashed into a pool of water in Maiduguri, Borno State.

Spokesperson of NAF, Olatokunbo Adesanya, who made the disclosure said no life was lost in the incident.

In a statement he signed, Adesnaya said the Chief of Air Staff, Sadique Abubakar, has constituted a panel of inquiry to unravel the cause of the crash.

The statement reads, “A Nigerian air force (NAF) Agusta 109 light utility helicopter has suffered a mishap while undertaking a liaison mission targeted at further enhancing the synergy between the Nigerian army and the NAF in the ongoing counter-insurgency operation in the north-east.

“The incident, which occurred today, 6 July 2017, was as a result of an airborne technical fault with the helicopter.

“The experienced NAF pilots, however, successfully ditched the helicopter into a pool of water to minimise damage and loss of lives.

“Consequently, there were neither any injuries nor loss of lives to anyone on board or on the ground.

“The chief of air staff has immediately directed the constitution of a board of inquiry to determine the exact cause of the incident while efforts are ongoing to recover the helicopter and members of the board are already in Maiduguri to commence work.

“The NAF continues to solicit the understanding and support of the general populace as it daily strives to ensure the security of Nigeria and Nigerians.”

By Seun Opejobi

Air Force Recruitment Scandal: Chief Of Air Staff Allegedly Favored Core North

A civil rights organisation, Campaign Against Military Impunity, has raised the alarm over alleged recruitment scandal in the Nigerian Air Force.

The organisation alleged that the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Sadiq Abubakar, had compromised standards in the recruitment exercise for non-commissioned officers from the core North.

“Presently at the Airforce Base in Kaduna, there is ongoing pre-training formalities and tests for successful recruits, where 80 per cent of them are Northerners”, CAMI said.

Executive Director of CAMI, Victor Coker, told journalists in Abuja yesterday, that the government should carry out an audit of the exercise and courses going on in all the military training institutions.

“To unravel this misnomer, there should be an audit of the courses going on in all the training institutions. The audit should look at the composition and last three batches of those in training”, he stressed.

“They were supposed to take 68 persons in each state; but after the normal recruitment, the Chief of Air Staff now brought over 2,000 names spread across the core Northern States.

“Out of this figure, only 30/40 was given to the South. This is not the first time it is happening. Such things have been done in DSS, EFCC, and even police, Army and the Navy.

“We keep on preaching One Nigeria, One Nigeria. But behind the empty slogan of One Nigeria lies bare-faced hypocrisy and grand design to sentence part of the country to perpetual slavery.”

According to him, Northerners have been so smart to shortchange the entire South even during previous population census exercises conducted by the National Population Commission (NPC),

“How can the desert be more populated than the tropical rain forest? This was how the population census was done before independence”, he queried.

NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, has denied the allegation.

He said, “I think it is most advisable that the list of the people recruited should be made public first. Then, those making the claims can painstakingly go through the list.

“If there is any state that is not fairly represented, then, let them raise the alarm, rather than be speculating. A list is not yet out, yet people are speculating that the North has been favoured.

“Don’t forget that each state should be fairly represented. If you have certified people and everybody in a state are not medically qualified, are you going to disregard everybody in that state?

“We operate with the highest standards and we do not compromise on standard, either medical, physical or academic.”

By Wale Odunsi