Molly Kilete, Abuja

Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, said the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), has deployed seven fighter jets and attack helicopters to Benue and Taraba states to curb the incessant crisis and killings in the two states.

The NAF chief listed the seven fighter jets which has since been inducted into its ongoing Operation WHIRL STROKE, to curb herders/farmers clashes to include 2 F-7 fighter jets, 2, Mi-35 helicopters, one ATR plane, one 350 King air surveillance aircraft and one Mi-35P helicopter.

Marshal Abubakar made this known during an induction of the seventh platform – an Mi-35P attack helicopter in Makurdi, the Benue State Capital.

A statement by NAF’s Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Vice Marshall Adetokunbo Adesanya, said that the operation, which also extends to Nasarawa State, is targeted to bring an end and lasting solution to the incessant violent clashes that has resulted in the death of several innocent persons and destruction of ancestral homes to an end.

Adesanya, in the statement, while noting that the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Air Force, Samson Okwu, also attended induction ceremony, said, “The deployment is targeted at checkmating the farmers/herdsmen’s clashes and it shows the military’s commitment to the protection of the citizens and their property in all parts of the country.

“The induction of the Mi-35P aircraft in the operation is to increase security presence in the states,”.