Two Nigerian Air Force fighter jets have left the shores of the country for Mali in support of the battalion earlier deployed to the troubled fellow West African country.
At exactly 4.30 pm on Friday, two Alpha Jet fighters took off from Abuja to Mali with four officers as part of the country’s contribution to the ECOWAS Force.
Air Company Commander, AVM Tayo Oguntoyinbo led three others with NAF 452 and 455 Alpha Jets for the operation after briefing the media on the importance of the operation.
He explained that the trip was ordered by President Goodluck Jonathan to flush out the Islamic Terrorists from northern Mali with a view to restoring peace and order to the country.
Spokesman of the Air Force, Commodore Yusuf Anas led the Defence Correspondents to the Abuja International Airport, where the brief event took place.
The ECOWAS leadership had underlined its intention to curtail the terrorists in Mali by sanctioning a regional security response and the UN Security Council subsequently approved the regional bloc’s request for a military solution to the insurgency.
