Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has pledged continued support for the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and other security agencies to strengthen security and protect critical national assets in the state.
Fubara spoke on Thursday while commissioning the rehabilitated runway at the 115 Special Operations Group Base, NAF, Port Harcourt.
He said the facility would boost the NAF’s operational capacity, improve air safety and enhance rapid response to security threats, including crude oil theft, illegal refining and pipeline vandalism.
The governor described security as a collective responsibility, stressing that Rivers’ strategic importance as Nigeria’s oil and gas hub makes its security critical to the nation’s economic stability.
The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Aneke, commended Fubara for investing in the rehabilitation of the runway, apron, taxiway and other facilities at the base.
Aneke, who recalled landing at the airfield as a young co-pilot in 2001, said the upgraded facilities would improve aviation safety, surveillance, aircraft deployment and sustained military operations.
He said the infrastructure would also strengthen responses to terrorism, insurgency, piracy, illegal bunkering and other security challenges, as well as humanitarian emergencies.
Aneke described Fubara’s support for maintaining two effective airfields in Rivers as evidence of strategic foresight, noting that his interventions also included the provision of an AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter.
