Air power crucial to countering terrorism, banditry – Air Force chief

The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Marshal S.K. Aneke has declared that defeating Nigeria’s increasingly sophisticated security threats requires intelligence-led operations, joint force integration, and the effective employment of decisive air power.

Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, Director of Public Relations and Information, Headquarters, Nigerian Air Force, in a statement on Friday, said the CAS made the assertion while delivering a lecture titled “Air Power and National Security: The Nigerian Air Force in Perspective” to participants of National Defence College Course 34 at the National Defence College (NDC), Abuja, on Friday, July 3, 2026.

The audience comprised senior officers of the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, and Nigeria Police Force, alongside participants from various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), as well as 20 international participants from allied countries.

The CAS underscored the indispensable role of air power in addressing today’s increasingly complex security environment through integrated military operations and a whole-of-government approach.

Air Marshal Aneke observed that Nigeria’s contemporary security landscape has evolved far beyond conventional warfare, with terrorists, bandits, separatist groups, transnational organised criminal networks, and other non-state actors increasingly exploiting emerging technologies, difficult terrain, and civilian populations to evade detection and undermine national security.

He stressed that responding effectively to such highly adaptable threats demands deeply integrated inter-agency structures capable of fusing intelligence from air, land, maritime, cyber, and human domains into a unified operational picture that enables timely and decisive action.

According to the CAS, air power has become a strategic enabler of national security, providing the speed, reach, precision, and flexibility required to gather intelligence, conduct surveillance and reconnaissance, rapidly deploy forces, secure Nigeria’s vast borders and maritime domain, protect critical national infrastructure, and deliver precise effects in support of national security while minimising civilian harm.

“The complexity of modern security challenges requires closer collaboration among the Armed Forces, intelligence agencies and other security institutions, declaring that no single Service can secure the nation alone,” the statement said.

He added that “decisive air power delivers its greatest effect in synergy with surface forces,” stressing that sustained operational success depends on intelligence sharing, joint planning, and synchronised execution across all domains.

Air power crucial to countering terrorism, banditry – Air Force chief