The Boko Haram fight in the north-eastern part of the country has continued to draw millions of naira from the national purse.
File Photo
The Nigerian Air Force said on Tuesday that it spent over N400m to fuel fighter jets deployed in its operations to combat the Boko Haram terror activities in the North-East between July and September 2017.
The Air Component Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Air Commodore Tajudeeen Yusuf, said this in Maiduguri, Borno State, during a briefing to discuss the successes and challenges recorded by the component during the third quarter.
Yusuf, who noted that a total of 842 missions were conducted in the period under review, said the air force fighter aircraft flew for a total of 1,551 hours and 39 minutes.
He said, “The air efforts in the third quarter of 2017 as compared to the previous quarter show an increase in activities based on the upsurge of day and night Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance as well as Armed Reece sorties to identify targets for interdiction. We also conducted several missions in support of ground troops.
“Overall, from July to September 2017, a total of 842 missions were conducted in 1,162 sorties with a total of 1,551 hours and 39 minutes flown by the various platforms. For all these sorties, a total of 1,596,165 litres of Jet-A1 was consumed, which translates to a fuel cost of N399,041,250.”