The Nation Newspaper

Tag: boko haram

  • APC accuses Fed Govt of harassing opposition

    APC accuses Fed Govt of harassing opposition

    •’It’s pampering suspected Boko Haram sponsor, Sheriff’ 

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led Federal Government of engaging in a systematic harassment of members of the opposition.

    It alleged that it was shielding suspected Boko Haram sponsor, Ali Modu Sheriff, from the law.

    In a statement in Ilorin yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party decried the harassment and intimidation of Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje of the APC during a visit to his constituency in Gombe State.

    It said although Goje informed police authorities in the state of his visit and was provided with security, in the course of the visit, the policemen attached to him were withdrawn, while he was directed to cut short his engagements to answer a summon by the police commissioner.

    APC said: “Shocked at the action, the lawmaker decided to conclude his visit, which included a meeting with his constituents, but the policemen stampeded him out of the venue. His attempt to stop over for another condolence visit was thwarted by the police, who stopped his convoy at every turn, as he made his way from Deba to Gombe town, just to embarrass him.

    “When he finally arrived at Gombe town, he went to see the commissioner of police, where he was kept for three hours in what amounted to an illegal detention. When the police commissioner finally saw the senator, he warned him to reduce his convoy to only two vehicles, without explaining why he withdrew his police security, why he detailed policemen to harass him or why he detained him for three hours.

    “This action is wrong and unacceptable. The police is a national institution maintained by tax payers, and it cannot afford to turn itself to the enforcement arm of the ruling PDP, no matter the temptation.”

    The party said as former governor and serving Senator Goje was being tormented, another ex-governor and former senator, Ali Modu Sheriff, was landing in Maiduguri, where the federal authorities provided him with massive security, including four truck-load of soldiers led by a Lt.-Col., about 50 SSS personnel, hordes of policemen and two armoured tanks to escort him from the airport to his home, which was also secured by armed troops and policemen.

    It queried: “In the first instance, what qualified Sheriff, a suspected Boko Haram sponsor, for such a massive security, while another ex-governor and a serving senator was subjected to incredible indignity? Why has the Federal Government  continued with its harassment and intimidation of opposition members, which played out massively during the Ekiti and Osun elections when many of them were arrested and detained without reason? Why has the Federal Government continued to abuse national institutions in an unprecedented manner?

    “In any case, has the special treatment given to Sheriff by the federal authorities not shown that he indeed has a special relationship with President Goodluck Jonathan, who made sure he (Sheriff) was part of his entourage during his visit to Chadian President Idriss Deby to discuss the Boko Haram terrorism, despite the barefaced lies by the Presidency? Do Nigerians still expect the same Federal Government pampering Sheriff to investigate his alleged sponsorship of Boko Haram? Is it not clear now that President Jonathan is himself sabotaging his government’s fight against Boko Haram, on the altar of electoral desperation, by hobnobbing with a suspected sponsor of the terrorist group?”

    APC said while the Jonathan administration was free to make itself a laughing stock by shielding Sheriff from justice and even bestowing special privileges on the suspect, it should desist from abusing its powers by constantly using the police and the military to torment the opposition.

    It added: “We are documenting the abuses and in the fullness of time, we will present such to the nation as well as the international community to show the level of political intolerance, abuse of national institutions and the abridgment of citizens’ constitutional rights taking place under a democratically-elected government.”

     

  • Boko Haram: Nigeria is at war, says Senate

    Boko Haram: Nigeria is at war, says Senate

    The Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast received prominent attention yesterday as the National Assembly resumed plenary after two months recess.

    Lawmakers from Borno State recounted the attacks on their people and the implications of insurgency on their socio-economic lives .

    While the Senate declared that Nigeria was already at war and Senate President David Mark insisted that it must be won, the House donated N200m to the victims’ funds created by the federal government.

    The senate unanimously adopted a resolution asking President Goodluck Jonathan to take necessary steps to declare total war on Boko Haram insurgents.

    It mandated the leadership of the Senate and senators from the states mostly affected by the Boko Haram insurgency to meet with President Jonathan on the security challenge.

    A motion by Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba and 107 Senators entitled: “Threat to national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Nigeria by insurgents” was the tonic the lawmakers needed to call for decisive action against the onslaught of Boko Haram insurgents.

    Ndume said, “I read in the Order Paper about a threat. It is no longer a threat. Somebody is occupying the place and he has declared a caliphate.

    “Yesterday a new emir was installed by Boko Haram in Dambua. The original emir is taking refuge in Abuja. Boko Haram installed a new emir in Gwosa. Recently we conceded extension of state of emergency and it was because it could get out of hand. Can it get out of hand than what is happening now?

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said that if the country failed to tackle the Boko Haram insurgency “we may not have any country we can call Nigeria.”

    Mark described as a heinous crime, the escalation of violence in parts of the country.

    “Regrettably, the Boko Haram sect, these harbingers of death have become more emboldened and daring, killing innocent Nigerians and destroying property at will.”

    Mark lamented that from abductions, kidnappings and bombings, the situation has now degenerated to capturing and occupying some parts of Nigeria.

     

     

    He said added, “In what is obviously intended to humiliate us as a sovereign nation and test our resolve, the terrorists have brazenly hoisted their flags to confirm their assault and affront on our collective will as a nation.

    “To put it otherwise is to shy away from the truth. In my candid opinion, the Boko Haram sect has in no unmistakable terms declared a total war on Nigeria and Nigerians.

    “Sure, dialogue must not be ruled out but this time around, with this scale of warfare, we must first demonstrate our strength, confront and defeat these terrorists and insurgents before we resort to dialogue.

    “I am yet to come to terms with what the Boko Haram Sect actually wants.

    “And I dare ask what offence has the Chibok girls or any other school child, a market woman or artisan struggling to earn a living committed that he or she deserves to be felled and decimated daily by the bombs and arsenals of these insurgents?

    “This is not the time to willfully castigate or criticize our armed forces and security operatives.

    “We must not trade blames or pass the buck. We must not stand divided along any real or perceived fault lines.

    He noted that another issue of grave national and international concern is the unfortunate outbreak of the deadly Ebola Virus.

    He said, “As if the man-made peril posed by insurgency and terrorism was not terrible enough, a new molecular peril with a potentially more profound lethality arrived from neighboring Liberia in July.

    “Although our customs forbid us from speaking ill of the dead, I must say, I deplore the conduct of this vile and irresponsible visitor, Patrick Sawyer.

    “His condemnable action has left a huge burden and everlasting scar on the nation.”

    He said that what is reassuring is that government has been able to contain further spread of the epidemic.

    “One useful lesson from the outbreak of the Ebola Virus is that Nigerians are now more conscious of their personal hygiene.

    “This notwithstanding, Government at all levels must now leverage on this preventive measure to check further spread. What this ultimately calls for is good and implementable health care delivery system in Nigeria.

    “As schools resume for the new academic session, it is incumbent on all heads of educational institutions to make adequate arrangement to ensure that the Ebola Virus does not in any way spread within the precincts of their schools and put the lives of our children in danger.

    “Our hearts go out to the valiant health workers and caregivers who are consistently battling to contain the spread of this disease. We commend the Federal and State governments for the prompt and decisive actions they have so far instituted to stem the spread.

    “It is imperative to commend the late Dr. Stella Ameyo Adadevoh, Consultant Physician, for her bravery. But for her being proactive, the late Patrick Sawyer would have spread the virus beyond our imaginations.

    “She is indeed a heroine. She deserves a national posthumous honour, and should be duly recognized and honoured by this nation. I pray that God Almighty grants her soul, and those of other caregivers who paid the supreme prize, eternal rest,” he said.

    Mark noted that as the 2014 fiscal year draws to a close, the Senate expected that the appropriation bill arrived its chamber, before the end of this month to enable the Senate work on the budget and pass it into Law before January

  • Chibok schoolgirls twist

    Chibok schoolgirls twist

    •Human rights activist Shehu Sani should name the powerful Nigerians he claimed to be working against freedom of the abducted students.

    Many Nigerians looking forward to the release of the more than 200 Chibok school girls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents since April must have been frightened by the allegation by Shehu Sani, a human rights activist, that some powerful Nigerians are working against the release of the girls. Sani, who had been involved in at least three botched attempts to free the girls and had on previous occasions blamed the failure of the moves on the insincerity of the Federal Government, now believes that the government is getting closer to getting a deal that would get the hapless secondary school students released to their parents.

    The latest twist in the tale has further befuddled the issues and sent the alarm bells ringing on what the government may be planning. Activities on the political scene suggest that President Goodluck Jonathan would soon formally declare his bid for a second term in office and it is obvious that the abduction of the girls could be a hindrance to the ambition. Therefore, it seems that there are three options open to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. First, he could order a full-scale war by the military, backed by foreign allies. Second, he could decide to trade the girls’ freedom for amnesty for arrested insurgents and, third, he could pin the kidnap on opposition politicians or imaginary foes.

    This is why we are worried by Sani’s claim. It corresponds with the position held by key officials of the Federal Government and the voluble spokesperson for the Department of State Services (DSS), Ms. Marilyn Ogar, who have made attempts to pin the failure to get the girls released on leaders of the main opposition party in the country, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Given his antecedents, Sani’s contention could not be easily dismissed. He had been a victim of state repression under previous government and obviously has contacts with the agents of terror apparently in a bid to resolve the logjam threatening the corporate existence of the country. When the Federal Government named him earlier as a member of a committee to negotiate a peaceful resolution of the conflict, he declined because he could not see the genuineness in the government effort. On another occasion, he had embarked on a private move with former President Obasanjo to stave off the crisis.

    But, the suggestion that some powerful individuals or forces could be working against the release of the Chibok schoolgirls without naming the powerful Nigerians calls for caution. We call on Sani to name the individuals to prevent innocent people from being tagged. As a Nigerian, he ought to make such information available to the security forces even if he does not want to directly put it in the public square. It must be realised that no single individual or individuals could be more powerful than the Nigerian state. The national interest supersedes any other and the day must never come when anyone would be made to believe that he or she is greater than the country. At a time when the entire world is fighting terrorism, no one should be encouraged to shield the identity of sponsors of such a deadly crime.

    We are constrained to warn that any attempt by the Federal Government to use such information as basis for a clampdown on imaginary enemies without full disclosure on the identities, veracity and source of the information would be counter- productive and further compound the woes of a nation humbled by a group that started as a ragtag band of malcontents.

     

  • Is Nigeria Humpty Dumpty?

    SIR: The activities of rampaging Boko Haram in north-eastern Nigeria with the terrorists overrunning many towns and villages, and the dismal response of the Nigerian state to the unbridled brigandage should be a cause for concern for patriotic Nigerians. The poorly-equipped Nigerian Army, contrary to what President Goodluck Jonathan voiced sometime back, again shows that corruption is Nigeria’s number one problem. With the huge defence budget over the years, how come the Nigerian Army is poorly equipped? The advances made by Boko Haram also shows that either our intelligence services failed in their responsibilities over the years, or people who were to take actions based on gathered intelligence compromised the Nigerian state.

    For more than 150 days now, more than 200 girls have been kidnapped by the insurgents and we all seem to be going about normally as if nothing has happened. Nigeria appears to be in a free fall! As I contemplated these happenings, I remember the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty. Is Nigeria Humpty Dumpty?

    • Victor O. Adetimirin

    University of Ibadan

     

  • Save us from Boko Haram, Michika residents cry out

    Save us from Boko Haram, Michika residents cry out

    Leaders of Michika and Bazza in Adamawa State have urged the Federal Government to save them from the Boko Haram sect.

    Members of the Kamwe Christian Community Group Forum (KCCF); Ekkresiya Yanuwa Nigeria; EYN Group of Churches; Higgi-Kamwe Race NGO; Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Michika branch; Civil Servants Forum (CSF); Northern Christian Elders’ Forum (NOSCEF) and Kamwe Christian Community Forum (CCF), among others, spoke with reporters yesterday in Yola.

    They were led by Dr. Caleb Zirafiri and Dr. Joel, Michika’s CAN chairman and head of the Department of Food and Beverages at the Adamawa State University.

    The leaders said Bazza and surrounding villages are still being controlled by the insurgents, adding that their hostages have had no access to food for two weeks.

    Zirafiri said: “Dead bodies litter the area and there is no one to bury them. We are pleading with the government to help us drive out Boko Haram in all our towns – Warakanza, Vi, Kwabapale, Kuburshosha, Mbororo, Garta, Kamale, Ghumchi, Dlaka, Moda, Wurogayandi, Bazza and others too numerous to mention, which have all been occupied. Hundreds of bodies are scattered all over while Boko Haram is now invading other Michika towns located on the high lands, such as Za, Futu, Futudo and Futuless, where it has stationed its commanders.

    “We call for help from the international community, as hundreds of people hiding on the mountain tops are starving.”

     

  • N1.5b materials for displaced persons

    President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered the release of relief materials worth N1.5 billion to the three states worse hit by the activities of the Boko Haram sect.

    This is to provide succour for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the states.

    A member of the Presidential Special Committee on Relief Materials to the Northeast, Alhaji Salihu Belel, told reporters in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, that each of the states would get materials worth N500 million.

    Belel, who chairs the Adamawa Relief Committee, said the materials include food items, clothing and building products.

    In Adamawa, he said the Northern Senatorial Zone would be given priority in the distribution of the materials because it is worst hit.

    Belel said the Presidential committee would provide potable water and health care in relief camps.

  • Boko Haram kidnaps 50 women in Adamawa

    Members of the Boko Haram sect seized over 50 young women in Gulak, Adamawa State, last Saturday, it was learnt yesterday.

    Sources said the insurgents have kidnapped hundreds of women and children in Michika and Madagali since they annexed Madagali, Gulak, Shuwa, Michika, Bazza and other towns.

    Former residents of the captured towns, who escaped from the insurgents, said those kidnapped were being used as sex slaves, cooks, gardeners and washer women.

    Activities of the terrorists have led many residents to flee to Yola, the Adamawa State capital, and other places.

    A resident, simply identified as Tija, who escaped from Gulak at the weekend, said the victims, including married women, were taken away in trucks.

    He said: “Some women brought the news that Boko Haram forcefully took some of them away, including a sister in-law to a friend of mine. The situation is getting worse by the day. We hope this problem ends some day.”

    Mr Musa Uba from Husra in Michika Local Government Area said young men were forced to join the sect when preaching failed to bring forth volunteers.

    He said: “They conducted preaching sessions to attract converts to their sect, but people only listened out of fear. The next day, they asked if anybody wanted to join them but there was no response, so they selected many healthy-looking young men and asked them to go with them. One of the victims is my relative who did body building exercises regularly.”

    Madagali Local Government Chairman James Watharda could not be reached for comments.

    A security source confirmed the incident, saying: “They often called women to come and collect food items at the Madagali Local Government Secretariat in Gulak. On Saturday, they selected some of them and took them away. Abduction is taking place throughout the areas controlled by the insurgents.”

    A politician, Maina Ularamu, said: “The information I have is that they selected some women and locked them in the local government Secretariat.”

    It was learnt that the insurgents were living on domestic animals reared by residents.

  • ‘Fed Govt committed to ending Boko Haram insurgency’

    Senate President David Mark has re-assured Nigerians that the Federal Government is committed to fighting Boko Haram and other criminals. He urged Nigerians to co-operate with security agencies in order to overcome security challenges in the country is experiencing.

    Senator Mark spoke in Abuja at the inauguration of the Board of Trustees (BOT) and Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Association of Licenced Private Security Practitioners of Nigeria (ALPSPN) which is regulated by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

    Mark advised security operatives to shun rivalry and tackle in security.

    Represented by Dr. Peter Keshi, Senator Mark said: “It is time for action. This is the appropriate time to fight together insurgence to a standstill. We should not let anything hinder us. Nigeria must remain one united entity and we must remain one indivisible nation.

    “It is important that we act immediately. We must ensure that the Association of Licensed Private Security Practitioners of Nigeria (ALPSPN) is constitutionally recognised.

    “Push it at the National Assembly and I will give it an accelerated hearing when the time comes. We must get a law establishing it to avoid crisis in the future.

    “The Federal Government is very committed to keeping Nigeria one; government is committed to fighting insurgence (Boko Haram) and all other forms of crimes. This is the time for inter-agency collaboration and not competition within security agencies”.

    Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, urged the private security operatives to work with other security operatives to end insurgency.

    He said they should be provided with more sophisticated equipment to further assist the government.

    Moro, who was represented by the Director of Paramilitary, assured the association of government’s support.

    Commandant-General of NSCDC, Dr. Ade Abolurin, pointed out that ignorance makes security agencies fight with one another over superiority.

    He further said the private security outfit is expected to be involved in intelligence gathering and keeping government aware of happenings across the country.

    He condemned the incident that occurred in Lagos where some policemen threatened to kill him on duty.

    His words: “Men of this private security outfit are not gatemen neither are they just ordinary security men. Boko Haram is the current security challenge we as a country experience now and Nigeria and Nigerians need you now more than any other time to respond and fight.  You should encourage synergy.

  • ‘How to defeat Boko Haram, rescue Chibok girls’

    As the military and Boko Haram insurgents battle for the control of some towns in the Northeastern states of Borno and Adamawa, a Lagos lawyer, Mr. Kunle Uthman, examines the sect’s origin and its activities. He gives tips on how to rescue the Chibok school girls abducted by the group last April. 

    Boko Haram, an Islamic sect, a terrorist organisation and a Jihadist group has attacked Nigeria’s police and the military, rival clerics, politicians, schools, religious buildings, public institutions, and civilians with increasing regularity since 2009.  Analysts and historians view Boko Haram as an armed revolt against the government’s corruption, abusive security forces, and widening regional economic disparity in an already impoverished country.

    The sect calls itself Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad, or “people committed to the propagation of the Prophet’s teachings and jihad”.  Colloquially translated as “Western education is sin”.   While Boko Haram was not initially an insurgency or terrorist organisation its origin is rooted in grievances over poor governance and sharp inequality in the Nigerian society.

    “The emergence of Boko Haram signifies the maturation of long-festering extremist impulses that run deep in the social reality of Northern Nigeria” writes Chris Nwodo.  “But the group itself is an effect not a cause; it is a symptom of decades of failed government and elite delinquency finally ripening into social chaos”.

    It is noteworthy that despite a per capital income of more than US$2,700 and vast wealth in natural resources, Nigeria has one of the world’s poorest population.  An estimated 70 per cent of the population lives on less than $1.25 a day.  Economic disparities between the north and the rest of the country are particularly stark and indeed, appalling.

    In the north, 72 per cent of people live in abject poverty, compared to 27 per cent in the south and 35 per cent in the Niger Delta. The high poverty level among the low class and the stupendous wealth of the feudalist and the oligarchy have resulted in palpable disaffection among the generality of the northerners.

    As such, Egbunike described Nigeria as “A plane on autopilot, a battle ground between those who vowed to make the country ‘ungovernable’ and a government that lacks the courage to put them behind bars.  Little wonder that the peace we all crave for may remain an illusion for quite some time”. Another dimension of the Boko Haram insurgence is the effect on the corporate image of Nigeria within committee of nations.  Internationally, the image of the nation is dented while prostitution, crime, drug trafficking, fraud and high level of corruption are the issues that are negatively affecting the reputation of Nigeria and Nigerians anywhere in the world.  There is no amount of image laundering that can influence the impression of the international community if negative news on a daily basis continue to emanate from Nigeria.

    Therefore, the violent uprising in Northern Nigeria are ultimately due to “the fallout of frustration with corruption and the attendant social malaise of poverty and unemployment”.  Poverty and unemployment make crime very attractive and irresistible to our teaming youth as an idle hand is the cheapest instrument in the hand of the devil.

    Terrorism is a globalised phenomenon confronting the international community.  It has grown both in strength and trend and its impact felt in different parts of the world including Nigeria, due to the activities of Boko Haram creating growing concern with the level of loss of lives in tens of thousands since its transformation from a sect in 2001 into a terrorist organisation.

    In an article titled “Boko Haram: A religious Sect or Terrorist organisation”, Mike Okemi described terrorist as actors, who do not belong to any recognised armed forces or who do not adhere to the laws of war and who are, therefore, regarded as vogue actors’.

    Today Boko Haram has expanded its tentacles from the Northwest to the Northeast, Northcentral parts of Nigeria and the impact of its terrorism acts resulted in capital flight in these areas including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.  A mere sms message widely circulated in Lagos and its environs that the group was operating within the Lagos to Ibadan Expressway, resulted in traffic gridlock and commuters were stuck for 12 hours in a journey that ordinarily would be 60 minutes.

    Mike Okemi further stated that the economic situations in many countries lead many individuals to seek refuge and comfort within the confines’ of a terrorist organisation due to high level unemployment. These organisations offer food, shelter and consistent income for the members and their families.  This extreme poverty leads to vulnerability and insecurity and while poverty does not always lead to terrorism, terrorism does take advantage of misery, knowing that despair create favourbale conditions for terrorist projects and actions.

    An “Insurgent” is properly defined in Black’s Law Dictionary 6th Edition as “one who participates in an insurrection, one who opposes the execution of law by force of arms, or who rises in revolt against their constituted authorities.  An enemy.  Therefore, the Boko Haram insurgents are enemies of the Nigerian nation and should be appropriately treated as such.  Boko Haram is not a sect, a group of insurgents but a terrorist organisation which falls within the definition of the word as a group that uses violence, especially murder and bombing, in order to achieve political aims or to force a government to do something.

    David Anderson Q. C., an Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation and the Operation of the Terrorism Act 2000 and Part I of the Terrorism Act 2006  of the United Kingdom, in his report of July 2013 stated that there are 3 cumulative elements to the UK’s current definition of terrorism.  Namely:

    (a) the actions (or threat of actions) that constitute terrorism, which encompass serious violence against a person; serious damage to property; and actions which endanger life, create a serious risk of health or safety, or are designed seriously to interfere or seriously to disrupt an electronic system.  (b) the target to which those acts must be directed; they must be designed to influence a government or international organization, or to intimidate the public or a section of the public and; (c) the motive that must be present; advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.

    In 2012, Ansaru, A Boko Haram splinter group suspected of the killing of a British hostage in Nigeria in March 2012, was proscribed by the British Parliament in December, 2012 pursuant to the Terrorism Act 2000 (Proscribed Organisations) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2012.

     

  • Air Force loses jet in Boko Haram battle

    Air Force loses jet in Boko Haram battle

    The wreckage of a military jet which went missing on Friday may have been found.

    Villagers in Lala State Development Area in Adamawa State claimed yesterday to have seen the wreckage.

    An administrative officer in Gombi Local Government Area of Adamawa State said villagers assisted a military search team in an effort to locate the plane after rumours that it crashed between Ngalga and Barda in Gabun ward.

    The official said after an intensive search without a clue, soldiers who were  more than 100, attempted to move to the Borno side of the boundary to continue the search but were blocked by the Gabun River, which has overflown its banks.

    The official said vilagers from Hawul village on the Borno side of the border informed him that a plane-like object was sighted in the mountainous area.

    “Some villagers have just called to tell me that an object they believed to be an aircraft was  discovered in the bush,” he said.

    He said a search party by the villagers will comb the area this morning.

    The plane, one of those deployed against Boko Haram insurgents in Konduga, Borno State, on Friday is an Alpha jet. It got missing in Adamawa State.

    More than 200 insurgents were killed in the operation and four soldiers were injured.

    The Defence Headquarters yesterday said a search team had been deployed in the state to find the Alpha Jet (NAF 466).

    But the incident has not stopped air strikes in Bama, Gwoza and Madagali.

    A statement by the Director, Defence Information, Major-General Chris Olukolade, said: “An Alpha Jet (NAF 466) belonging to the Nigerian Air Force is missing around Adamawa State.

    “The aircraft, with two pilots onboard, left Yola at about 10:45am on 12 September 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. Meanwhile, search and rescue effort is ongoing to establish contact with the crew.”

    The likelihood of the aircraft being brought down by Boko Haram was considered remote by a military source.

    The source said: “A sad moment after the euphoria of joy and excitement of military victory in Konduga. The jet did much of the bombardments of the insurgents, got missing in Adamawa axis.

    “We are definitely searching for the jet; it is too early to either talk of a crash or attack by the insurgents.

    “Some members of the search team have been in and around Michika town in Adamawa but we have not found the jet.”

    The source claimed that the incident had not stopped ongoing operations in Borno and Adamawa states.

    “Troops are still going ahead with air strikes in Bama, Gwoza and Madagali areas against the insurgents,” he said, adding:

    “We are determined to consolidate on the gains recorded against the insurgents on Friday. In fact, intelligence report indicated that Boko Haram is getting war-weary.”

    Adamawa State Acting Governor Umaru Fintiri yesterday commiserated with the Nigeria Air Force over the loss of its fighter Jet.

    Fintiri said the prayers of the people were with the aircraft pilots and for their safe return to their families.

    The Acting Governor’s position was contained in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary Solomon Kumangar.

    Fintiri saluted the resilience of the military and the gains they were making in the war against the insurgents.

    The military last week commenced heavy air bombardment on Michika and Madagali towns that were over ran by Boko Haram militants. The jets were shelling locations believed to have large concentration of insurgents.

    The aerial bombardment, according to sources, left the Boko Haram insurgents suffering extensive losses in men and equipment.