The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) says it has completed the airlifting of relief materials to Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
This was to further assist victims of the massive flooding that affected some communities in those countries in April.
Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.
He said the airlift missions were conducted for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
“The airlift missions, which were conducted for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), conveyed critical relief materials such as drugs, medical supplies and treated mosquito nets donated by Nigeria to alleviate the sufferings of the flood victims.
“The airlift missions were executed by NAF C-130 Hercules aircraft, in furtherance of the NAF’s constitutional roles of projecting air power beyond the shores of the country as well as providing military aid to civil authority,” he said.
Daramola said the C-130H airlifted 12,000 of relief materials from Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja to the Maputo International Airport, Maputo, Mozambique on Monday.
He said 8,100 Kg of materials were delivered at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport Harare, Zimbabwe on Saturday.
He said the NAF aircrew and NEMA officials handed over the items to officials from the Nigeria High Commission in the two countries for onward delivery to their host governments.
“Prior to this, the NAF had, in May 2019, conducted the first batch of the airlift missions for NEMA using an ATR-42 aircraft, in 3 sorties, to airlift a total of 15,000 Kg (15 tonnes) of similar relief materials to Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi,” he said.
He recalled that in August 2017, the NAF airlifted 38,000 Kg of relief materials to Freetown, Sierra Leone, in the aftermath of the devastating mudslides and floods that ravaged the country.
