NAF trains 4,500 special forces in 4 years – CAS

Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, Chief of the Air Staff (CAS).

Nigerian Air Force (NAF) says its Regiment Training centre has trained no fewer than 4,500 Special Forces for VIP protection, assets protection and advanced regiment courses in the last four years.


Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Sadiq Abubakar, made the disclosure on Saturday at the inauguration of two blocks of 10 Flats Officers’ Transit Quarters for personnel of Regiment Training Centre, Kaduna.

The building was named after Flying Officer, Abdulrahman Hassan Bayero who lost his life in active service on July 22, along Kaduna-Birnin Gwari road.

The air chief was represented by Chief of Policy and Plan, AVM Napoleon Bali.

Abubakar said the regiment training school was also upgraded into a centre to improve the capacity of regiment personnel to protect NAF assets.

“I am delighted to note that the centre has trained over 4,500 personnel from 2015 till date and has also begun conducting other advanced courses such as special forces, VIP protection and advanced regiment courses.”

According to him, these achievements are a product of dedication to duty of the instructors and staff of the RTC.

“Accordingly, these quarters are constructed to provide a serene atmosphere for them to rest and refresh after a hard day’s work to continue to “train hard and fight easy”.

Abubakar noted that the event was part efforts at providing conducive environment for personnel involved in training and development of a robust regiment speciality capable of carrying out all levels of symmetric and asymmetric operations.

He said it was also in furtherance of the resolve of the Federal Government to provide a safe and secure environment for citizens.

” I noted on assumption of duty that there is need to reposition NAF into a disciplined force capable of providing solutions in line with our present security realities.

“This was important because our threats have expanded from traditional inter-state conflicts to threat of non-state actors employing unconventional tactics to destroy our aircraft and other assets in order to gain advantage.

“To this end, efforts are intensified to ensure that regiment air force speciality was better positioned by increasing their strength, equipment and weapons, ” he said.