Air Force To Boko Haram: Surrender Now or Be Wiped Out

Abubakar made the warning while addressing newsmen at the end of 2015
Annual 10-kilometer Walk/Jog exercise organised by the Admin Branch of the
Nigerian Air Force, in Abuja.

“My message to the insurgents is simple; it is either they give up their
insurgency or they are going to face the force.

“We are putting together everything in place and we hope that they will
keep to this advice and surrender their arms.

“They can come up so that we can bring this operation to an end, if not,
the consequences will be terribly unbearable,” Mr. Abubakar said.

He said the Nigerian Air Force was working closely with all the forces to
achieve the deadline to end insurgency in the North-East.

“The deadline has been set and we are going to achieve that deadline.

“It is not only an Air Force war; it is a war that is jointly fought by
all the forces.

“Our responsibility is to make it easy for the surface forces to move
around to conduct their operation without any hindrance and that is
exactly what we have been doing.

“It is a very coordinated operation between the air elements and the land
elements and that is why we are beginning to see the result of that
coordination,” he said.

The chief of air staff said the significance of the exercise was to keep
the minds and body of officers and men fit and ready to combat insurgency.

“In trying times such as now, you need not only a sound mind but you also
need a very sound body.

“Certainly, somebody that has weak body is not likely to do well in the
battle, so it is an opportunity for us to remind ourselves that we have
very trying times.

“We have challenges and responsibilities as members of the Nigerian Air
Force and you cannot do that with only a sound mind, you need a sound body
as well.

“We are likely going to introduce additional exercise that will keep our
men in good shape so that they are able to discharge their constitutional
responsibilities without any difficulties,’’ the chief of air staff said.