The Nigerian Navy has received three Agusta Westland 109 Trekker helicopters.
The helicopters, procured by the Ministry of Defence, were officially handed over to the Navy on November 12, 2024.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the Director of Naval Information, Commodore A. Adams-Aliu, confirmed that the Ministry of Defence transferred the helicopters to the Navy during a brief ceremony in Lagos.
Adams-Aliu stated, “The Ministry of Defence has handed over three Agusta Westland 109 Trekker helicopters to the Nigerian Navy.”
The brief handover ceremony was done at Ikeja, Lagos.
“The Chief of the Naval Staff, accompanied by other senior officers, was present to receive the newly acquired helicopters.”
Adams-Aliu said the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, appreciated the Ministers of Defence Abubakar Badaru and Bello Matawelle, for facilitating the procurement of the helicopters.
He said, “The CNS thanked the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu, for his unflinching support to the Armed Forces in general and the Nigerian Navy in particular.
“He also expressed gratitude to both the Minister of Defence and the Minister of State for Defence for facilitating the acquisition of the helicopters to boost NN operations such as Air Recce, Search and Rescue, Air Insertion and MEDEVAC.”
Speaking on the capabilities of the helicopters, Adams-Aliu said the AW 109 Helicopters have a purpose-built VIP configuration with full leather and noise attenuation system.
He added, “Furthermore, the helicopter is designed with a landing skid, which gives it a better loading capacity compared to wheeled helicopters.
“Additionally, the helicopter is designed with auxiliary tanks which give it extended endurance of up to 3hrs 40mins.
“Thus, the helicopter could be used for long-range transport flights. The helicopters could also be retrofitted with purpose-built mission equipment,” he added.
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