The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has rotated some of its frontline troops in the ongoing counterterrorism operations in Northeast Nigeria.

NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, disclosed this in a statement issued on Thursday.

He said: “The NAF personnel rotated in the exercise included those who had completed their mandatory tour of duty in line with international best practices in military operations. The exercise involved the airlift of troops from the frontline to their home bases while new troops were deployed to take over their duties in the operational area. With the rotation, affected NAF personnel, who had left their families for a while, had the opportunity of reuniting with them after a meritorious service in the conflict area.

“The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, commended the troops who were rotated and expressed the nation’s gratitude for their sacrifices. The CAS also expressed appreciation to the relatives of the returning NAF personnel for enduring the long absence of their loved ones. In addition, Air Marshal Abubakar urged the newly deployed troops to be courageous, determined and committed while contributing their quota to the efforts at putting a complete stop to the menace of the Boko Haram terrorists.

“Meanwhile, the NAF has completed the airlift of 38,000kg of relief materials to Freetown, Sierra Leone, following the recent mudslide and flood, which led to the loss of several lives and properties. The relief materials were donated by the Federal Government of Nigeria towards alleviating the suffering of the people affected by mudslide and flood in Sierra Leone. The airlift, which was conducted in 5 sorties with NAF C-130 Hercules aircraft, is in partial fulfilment of the statutory responsibility of the NAF.”