Insurgency: NAF helicopter crashes in North-East

A Mi-17 Helicopter belonging to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) yesterday crashed while carrying out a mission against Boko Haram in the North- East. The Director of Public Relations and Information (DOPRI), Air Vice Marshal Olatokunbo Adesanya, who made the disclosure in a statement yesterday, said no life was lost in the incident.

Adesanya, however, noted that the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has since ordered the setting up of a board of enquiry, to determine the cause of the air mishap.

The DOPRI said: “A Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Mi- 17 Helicopter has suffered a mishap while undertaking a mission in the ongoing counter-insurgency operation in the North-East. “The incident, which occurred on Monday, January 8, 2018, resulted in significant damage to the helicopter.

There was, however, no loss of lives as a result of the incident. “The Chief of the Air Staff has immediately directed the constitution of a board of inquiry to determine the exact cause of the incident, in line with global best practices.

“The NAF continues to solicit the understanding and support of the general populace as it daily strives to ensure the security of Nigeria and Nigerians.” Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army has revealed that the Abu Musab Albarnawiy- led faction of Boko Haram “has recruiters all over the country.”

Director of Army Public Relations (DAPR), Brig.-Gen. Sani Usman, who made the disclosure in a statement yesterday, however vowed that the renewed offensive, which has decimated the ranks of the sect, will be sustained, until total defeat was attained.

To demonstrate the effectiveness of the ongoing counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations, Usman disclosed that the “main” leader of the sect, Abubakar Shekau, was “in a terrible state of health and not much a threat as he is now a spent horse, waiting for his waterloo”.

For Albarnawiy, the DAPR said the target had been “gullible persons, especially misguided youths” who, he said, were often tricked into believing that the faction’s “Jihad” was genuine. Usman, however, assured that no effort will be spared to bring him and the group to justice.

His words: “Abu Mus’ab Albarnawiy, who has been busy deceiving and recruiting gullible persons, especially misguided youths into his fold, will soon be captured. “We reliably learnt that some misguided persons, particularly youths, are getting conscripted into the sect through enticements.

“They are usually attracted to the sect because of the deceitful and erroneous impression that Abu Musab’s Albarnawiy’s brand of “jihad” and insurgency is refined and genuine. This is far from it. Both factions are terrorist organisations whose activities constitute crimes against humanity. Their nefarious activities run contrary to the religion of Islam.

“The faction has recruiters all over the country, especially in the North-East. However, their clearing house for such conscripts is at Potiskum, Yobe State. Efforts are ongoing to track those involved.” Also, the Army has said that the fighters had devised a means to avoid detection of their structures and hideouts. According to Usman,”The Boko Haram terrorists’ tricks of evading air raids have been unravelled by the Theatre Command of Operation Lafiya Dole combating insurgency in the North-East of Nigeria.

“The Boko Haram terrorists group has always perfected survival tricks to continue their nefarious activities through enticement, deceit, concealment and outright propaganda. These were decoded through credible intelligence which became imperative for the public to be aware of it.

“The insurgents deployed special roofing techniques in order to avoid air detection and bombardment from the Nigerian Air Force (NAF). “They resort to roofing their living accommodation and hideouts with a mixture of coated sugar and mud so that the roof will not reflect when there is sunshine. Decisive measures have been taken to deal with this deception.”