The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has stated that it would establish additional Regiment Training Centres (RTC) annex in three states for the training of more special forces to boost security in the country.
The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadie Abubakar, stated this Friday during the graduation of 51 Special Forces Instructors Course 2 at the (RTC) NAF Base, Kaduna.
Abubakar listed the new annex to include: Ipetu Ijesa in Osun state, Bauchi in Bauchi state and Owerri in Imo state.
He said that the basic reason for the establishment was to ensure security of Air Force bases and security of critical assets, as well as to participate effectively with other security agencies in dealing with the internally security challenges in the country.
“It is a work still in progress and with this training, we hope to establish additional Regiment Training Center (RTC) annex in Ipetu Ijesa in Osun state, Bauchi, in Bauchi state and hopefully by the beginning of next year in Owerri in Imo state.
“We use to rely on people outside to train us, but today, we have trained about 100 people which is the second batch, meaning that we are building capacity to train on our own. To have developed this level of capacity building, we will certainly have impact in what we are doing in other places.
Abubakar said at least 250 Special Forces had been deployed to Zamfara state, 50 along Kaduna-Abuja highway and quite a number of them in Taraba and Benue states, all adding value to other security agencies.
The COAS urged the 51 graduating students to exhibit the highest level of professionalism in their future conduct, reminding them that they had become part of the front line in defence of the nation.
Abubakar thanked Israeli four troops’ team for the efforts in training its personnel and assured that the cordial relationship existing between them would be sustained.
Earlier, the acting commandant of the Regiment Training Centre, Wing Commander Stephen Sekegor, said the Special Forces training had been conducted abroad.
Sekegor identified those countries to include: Belarus, Jordan and Pakistan in line with Chief of Air Staff’s key driver, which is human capacity development through robust-oriented training for enhanced professionalism and performance.
