The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on Monday denied that its fighter jets bombed the convoy of one of the Senators representing Borno State, Ali Ndume over the weekend.
The Senator had told journalists on Sunday in Maiduguri, capital of Borno State that Nigeria’s Air Force jets bombed his convoy during his visit to Gwoza in Southern part of Borno State, one of the epicentres of activities of Boko Haram insurgent group.
The Senator said the fighter jets dropped four bombs on his convoy though nobody was wounded during the incident.
But NAF in a statement signed by its Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Y. Anas said there was no truth in the claims by the Senator.
“The attention of the Nigerian Air Force has been drawn to reports in some media houses which allegedly said its aircraft targeted and bombed Senator Ali Ndume’s convoy on Saturday 11, January 2014.
“The reports misquoted the Director of Information as having said the fighter jets mistakenly fired on the Senator’s convoy. For the avoidance of doubt, Nigerian Air Force aircraft did not target Senator Ndume’s convoy as alleged,” the statement read.
NAF said it was public knowledge that military operations in the North East, particularly in Borno State, were ongoing, “The Nigerian Air Force is constantly involved with the Nigerian Army and other security agencies in a coordinated manner aim at defeating the Boko Haram terrorists.”
NAF added that it has well trained pilots who would not conduct operational missions based on speculation or mistaken identity.
Source: PMNews
