The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on Tuesday 6th August 2109, took delivery of 21 Special Operations Dogs acquired from South Africa. The dogs arrived along with their 20 NAF Canine (K-9) Unit handlers who had concluded 13 weeks advanced training in areas such as Explosives Ordinance Detection (EOD), Narcotics Detection and Special Operations.
According to the statement released by NAF spokesperson, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola the Special Operations training covered tracking, rappelling, waterman-ship and terrain training aimed at equipping the dogs and their handlers with requisite skills to operate alongside NAF Special Forces (SF) personnel in Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) and emergency disaster response situations.
With the arrival of the new dogs, the NAF K-9 Unit, which was established in 2016 by the incumbent Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, now has a total of 60 dogs. This has significantly boosted the capacity of the Unit for enhanced security at major Nigerian Airports, NAF Units and Theatres of Operation across the Country.