Air force jet on B’Haram operation is ‘missing’
The defence headquarters on Sunday announced the disappearance of a Nigerian air force plane that was on “operational mission” in Adamawa state.
“An Alpha Jet (NAF 466) belonging to the Nigerian Air Force is missing around Adamawa state,” read a statement signed by director of defence information, Major-General Chris Olukolade.
“The aircraft, with two pilots onboard, left Yola at about 10:45am on September 12, 2014 on a routine operational mission and was expected back by 12:00 noon. Since then, all efforts to establish contact with the aircraft have not yielded any positive result.”
However, he said search-and-rescue efforts towards establishing contact with the crew were already ongoing.
“In view of the foregoing, you are please requested to disseminate this information through your news medium for the awareness of the general public,” it added.
Although the bulk of the armed forces’ operations in the insurgency-ravaged northeast centres around foot soldiers, the use of air planes has recently been emerging as an important component as well.
Earlier in the month when Boko Haram fighters invaded and overtook Bama, Borno state, the Nigerian air force sent air strikes to the town to flush out the insurgents.
It is the second time in the year that an air force jet has been declared missing.
On July 21, a Nigerian air force Mi-35 helicopter went missing and then crashed in Bama. The defence headquarters initially said two of the three people aboard (two pilots and an engineer-crew member) died in the crash, which occurred due to a technical fault.
But two days later, it announced that Warrant Officer Augustine Nwanonenyi, the supposedly dead engineer-crew member of the helicopter, was found alive.
What is really going on in the army, just 3 days of victory now a fighter jet its missing, maybe its Been shot down by boko haram. The nigeria government should be more prepared for this war, there should know that isis in iraq and syria are taking and controlling more territory, so boko haram should be taking more seriously. This the end of pdp in this country
This development further exposed the Nigerian Army. Thank God this is happening. This is not a full blown war with another country, yet the incapacitation is just everywhere. I wonder how a fast flying Alphajet could suddenly got missing without any clue of its where about or that of the crew members. Are we saying the control tower at Yola International Airport could not give any report on the movement of the plane? I read that local hunters have already been mobilized into the jungles to search and possibly ‘rescue’ the missing jet! Oh, may be the jet has tactically maneuvered into another country’s airspace. Allah Kiyaye.