Gov. Ben Ayade of Cross River, on Wednesday, appealed to the Nigerian Air Force to set up an operational squad to police troubled spots in the state to avert attacks by gendarmes.

Ayade made the appeal the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar Abubakar, visited Government House in Calabar.

“I want to also use this medium to appeal to you to deploy one helicopter to Cross River to help us in times of conflict.

“As we speak, our people are usually attacked by Cameroon Gendarmes and we need an air force operational squad to police all these troubled spots in the state.

“We are ready to take care of the operational cost, overhead and all expenses attached,” he said.

The governor lauded the NAF for its operations against the Boko Haram sect in the North East saying that “the professional air strikes by NAF have reduced the activities of the Boko Haram sect to the barest minimum.”

He said also that the professional discipline instilled into the NAF personnel by the CAS had helped in repositioning the force to a model.

Earlier, Abubakar said the visit was to inaugurate the newly built apartments for airmen, executed by Wing Cdr. Hussein Idris of 305 Special Mobility Group.

He assured Ayade that NAF would collaborate with other security agencies to ensure the state was free from criminal activities.

“I want to assure you that I will go back and get my team of engineers to start something positive,” he said.

Speaking during the inauguration of the project at the Commands Headquarters, Idris lauded the CAS for the re-activation of the force to a better professional and responsive entity through capacity building initiative.

“This project will go a long way in easing the pain of our personnel who before now leave in rented apartment,” he said. (NAN)

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