The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) says it has trained 12 personnel of its Air Provost Specialty in advanced dog handling techniques to enhance their proficiency in carrying out criminal investigations and other security-related duties.

Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, said in a statement issued on Thursday, said, the 6-week advanced dog handlers' course was conducted at Braveheart Bio-Dog Academy in South Africa as a follow-up to the basic K9 training received at the Nigeria Police Force Dog Breeding/Training Centre Abuja.

“It is the first time in a while that NAF personnel would receive special training in dog handling at a reputable overseas institution.

“Considering the security challenges currently being faced in the country, the newly acquired dogs, which have been trained to detect explosives, arms and ammunitions, narcotics as well as other substances, are expected to serve as a complement to explosive detection devices.

“The attendance of the advanced dog handlers’ course has further boosted the capacity of the affected NAF personnel and also exposed them to international best practices in the use of dogs for security purposes.

“It is recalled that human capacity development through robust and result oriented training for enhanced professional performance is one of the key drivers of the vision of the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar.

“The NAF Air Provost Marshal, Air Commodore Christopher Dola, represented the CAS at the graduation ceremony of the newly trained NAF personnel in Pretoria, South Africa on 20 May 2017 and has since returned to Nigeria,” the statement read.