Air Chief Approves New Directorate To Handle Land Matters

Chief of the air staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, has approved the establishment of the Directorate of Land Administration (DLA) with a mandate to secure, control, document, manage and administer all Nigerian Air Force (NAF) lands and landed properties across the country.

The director of public relations and information (DOPRI) Air Cdre Edward Gabkwet, in a statement he issued yesterday, said the new directorate which will be domiciled under the Logistics Branch, will among other functions, interface with the various ministries of lands as well as the base commanders to ensure that all matters related to trespassing and encroachments on NAF lands and landed properties are expeditiously dispensed with in line with extant laws.

He said NAF had in the course of its expansion over the years acquired lands and landed properties in various parts of the country while some were allocated to the service by some state governments and the federal government.

Gabkwet said incessant issues of trespassing, encroachment and needless disputes over undemarcated or unfenced boundaries of some of these lands and landed properties necessitated the need for a proactive step towards securing all NAF lands as well as avoiding conflicts and disputes with civilians, institutions or organisations.

“The need for the NAF to address this situation is also expedient as some of these encroachments constitute a risk to the security of some NAF Bases with implications on national security. It is in view of the foregoing that the chief of the air staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, approved the establishment of the Directorate of Land Administration (DLA) to secure, control, document, manage and administer all NAF lands and landed properties across the nation,” he said.