Adamawa Farmers Claim Sighting Missing Fighter Jet Airforce fighter jet • DHQ uncertain if plane was shot down or flew into sand storm • US: Nigeria did not understand severity of insurgency at the beginning • In hit-and-run tactic, Boko Haram attacks market near Maiduguri Crusoe Osagie , 
Daji Sani and 
Senator Iroegbu Local farmers in Gombi Local Government Area of Adamawa State yesterday claimed to have seen a low-flying aircraft that may have crashed at a place near Gabun, a mountainous village in the local council, three days ago. In a statement Sunday, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) had declared an Alfa jet, which was on a regular mission in the campaign to flush out terrorists in the North-east, missing after contact could not be established with the crew. The statement, which was issued by the Director of Defence Information, Major-General Chris Olukolade, said the aircraft, with two pilots on board, left Yola at 10.45am on Friday on a routine operational mission and was expected back by 12 noon. He said: “Since then, all efforts to establish contact with the aircraft have not yielded any positive result.” He added that search and rescue efforts were being carried out to locate the whereabouts of the aircraft and the crew. DHQ sources also informed THISDAY that the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) had not yet established if the fighter jet was shot down by Boko Haram terrorists or flew into a sand storm, which might have affected visibility for the crew and led to an accident. The sources said this could only be ascertained when the aircraft is traced and an investigation is carried out to ascertain why it disappeared from the radar. However, as the NAF intensifies its search for the aircraft, farmers in Gabun village in Gombi Local Government claimed Thursday that they saw a “low-flying jet” matching the description of the missing Alpha jet after its disappearance on Friday. Similarly, some residents of Hawul, a border town with Borno State, said they saw a military- type aircraft with green and red stripes flying very low over the mountains and the plane’s doors were clearly visible. The farmers alleged sighting the jet eight kilometres from Gombi and it came hours after the Yola-bound alpha jet vanished with two pilots on board. A witness who gave his name as Adamu Bello said: “I’ve never seen a jet flying so low over our mountains before. I could even make out the doors of the plane clearly. “It’s not just me, several other residents reported seeing the same plane. Some people got out of their houses to see what was causing the tremendous noise too before it disappeared from sight.” The farmers believe the plane might have crashed at Gabun, near a primary school, claiming the lives of the two pilots on board. Gabun, a mountainous region, runs through Biu in Borno State where Boko Haram insurgents have attacked in the past. When contacted on the sighting of a low-flying fighter jet, a DHQ source explained that the farmers might have sighted another NAF aircraft searching for the missing jet. He said NAF pilots had overflown Gombi Local Government Area and did not sight the wreckage of an aircraft. But even as the air force continues its search, the acting Governor of Adamawa State, Alhaji Umaru Fintiri, sent a message of solidary to NAF over the missing aircraft and its crew. In a statement through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Solomon Kumangar, the acting governor said the prayers of the people of the state are with the aircraft pilots, adding that he believed that they would return safely to their families. He saluted the resilience of the Nigerian military and the gains they are making in the war against the insurgents. Meanwhile, the United States Government has revealed that the Nigerian Government, at the outset, misinterpreted the severity of the threat posed to the nation by the terrorist group, Boko Haram. The US Assistant Secretary of State in charge of African Affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, made the comment yesterday in an interview with Arise Television, a THISDAY sister company, stressing that the US is disturbed by the threat of Boko Haram. “I would like to think and hope that the Nigerian government has not played this down because I think they understand and have acknowledged to us in our recent trip that this is a serious problem. I think they misinterpreted how serious the threat was initially. They really have worked over the past weeks to address that, but I think we all have come away understanding that fighting terrorism is not easy,” she said. She restated the US’ earlier position of not putting its troops on the ground in Nigeria, stressing that at the moment, their approach to the issue is to allow Nigerians “be in the lead of attacking Boko Haram and we want to support the Nigerian efforts to do this. “We are not in a place where we are prepared to put boots on the ground at the moment, but we do want Nigerians to more proactively go after Boko Haram and lead this process with her neighbours and we will look at ways to better support them”. Thomas-Greenfield also admitted that the prospect of finding and rescuing the over 200 girls abducted by Boko Haram from Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, was far more intricate than many imagined, but stressed that it was not entirely impossible. According to her, “I think that we understand that it is very complex. The Nigerians understand that it is very complex. It is not impossible and we are working with the Nigerians every day to try to find a way to bring these girls home. “I am in total sadness and sympathy with their families and what their families must be going through, not knowing where their daughters are. But I would add, it is not just the Chibok girls; there are many other families who have been impacted by Boko Haram.” She also expressed serious concern over what she described as the looming “possibility of Boko Haram moving into Maiduguri”, a situation which the Assistant Secretary of State said had raised the attention the US is paying to the terrorist group to unprecedented levels. “We are troubled about the threat of Boko Haram, period. But the possibility of Boko Haram moving into Maiduguri has raised the profile of Boko Haram and it certainly has intensified our concerns and the government of Nigeria’s concerns,” Thomas-Greenfield stated. The US envoy also spoke on the difficulty which her country faces in its effort to collaborate with Nigeria in the battle against terror, stating that corruption and human rights abuse by some segments of the Nigerian security forces make a US partnership with Nigeria difficult. According to her, “It has been a challenge for us, you know human rights is a core value for us in the US and a number of countries, and the allegations of security forces being involved in human rights violations and extra-judicial killings, have made it very difficult for us to work with some of the elements of the Nigeria security services. But there are some of the elements that we are working with.” She however acknowledged that the Nigerian government is taking the Boko Haram issue seriously and exploring ways to defeat it. “They (Nigeria government) have acknowledged that the Boko Haram issue is tough. They have acknowledged that they are being challenged but they are working to try to address this issue. “They have asked for our support and our intent is to be there to support both Nigeria as well as Nigeria’s regional partners as they address this. This is not just a Nigerian problem. It is a regional problem that has Cameroun very much engaged, Chad, Niger as well as Benin,” she said. The envoy expressed hope that the Nigerian Government was projecting the appropriate picture of the security crisis in the North-east to the international community, stressing that she believed the Nigerian Government now understood clearly the severity of the threat it is up against. In a related development, it has emerged the flushing out of terrorists by the military from Konduga in Borno State last Friday not only led to several casualties among the insurgents, it also resulted in the extensive loss of equipment by the terrorists. DHQ revealed at the weekend that three Toyota Hilux trucks and one Buffalo truck with mounted anti-aircraft guns, three general purpose machine guns, over 30 AK47 rifles and two global positioning systems have been recovered at Kodunga on Friday. Also speaking to THISDAY on the successes recorded by the military, a security source said: “The fact is that as the military is making new gains in the recent onslaught which has boosted the troops’ morale, the insurgents are becoming more desperate in their approach.” This was evident when Boko Haram insurgents attacked a market outside Maiduguri, local people who witnessed the incident told AFP at the weekend. About 50 gunmen on motorbikes stormed the weekly market in Ngom village, some 20 kilometres from the Borno State capital, at about 1.00 pm on Friday and opened fire, they said. The attack came hours after a fierce fight with the Nigerian army in the town of Konduga, 35 kilometres from Maiduguri, during which the military said Boko Haram fighters were routed, lost equipment and suffered heavy casualties. “They (Boko Haram) came on motorcycles and opened fire on the market. They killed many people,” said Tanimu Goni, who fled to Maiduguri in the wake of the attack. Another trader, Nafiu Umarari, added: “They fired indiscriminately and killed a lot of people.” Neither witness gave a precise figure and there was no official word from the military, although one report on the Premium Times website said four civilians were killed. The men said the insurgents seized vehicles and looted sacks of grain before fleeing but were pursued by a team of soldiers and civilian vigilantes from Maiduguri. “The soldiers and the civilian (vigilantes) succeeded in killing dozens of the Boko Haram fighters but many of them escaped into the bush,” Goni said in an account supported by Umarari.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 17:44:21 +0000
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