DHQ: Military Not Prolonging War against Boko Haram
Defends air force operations as NAF bombs insurgents’ location
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) yesterday said the military was not derailing and prolonging the war against Boko Haram terrorists in the North-east.
The DHQ position came amid allegations in a report that the military, particularly, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) was deliberately prolonging the war against Boko Haram sect for ulterior motive.
Going by the conflicting reports by the military to completely flush out Boko Haram fighters from the Sambisa forest, several groups have continued to question its sincerity, having informed the public of their complete capture of Sambisa forest.
The current upsurge in Boko Haram attacks has also raised concerns over possibility of sabotage within the military, given previous assurance that Boko Haram had decimated and could no longer stage attacks like they did before.
But according to the Director of Defence Information, Major General John Enenche, the allegation was ill-motivated, geared towards denigrating the recent success of the military.
He said: “The attention of the Defence Headquarters has been drawn to an ill motivated online publication on September 7, 2017 against the NAF.
“It was sensationally captioned: ‘How Nigerian Air Force’s failings allegedly prolonged war against Boko Haram’, which is not true, and a deliberate misinformation of the public about the NAF in particular and the armed forces in general.
“The armed forces trained and have always operated jointly to achieve set objectives under a coordinated command and control centre which is the Defence Headquarters.”
Enenche stated that “against this backdrop, it is not possible for a single service or component to frustrate or derail the aim of the armed forces.
“Therefore, the ill motivated publication against the Chief of Air Staff and the NAF should be disregarded.”
The DHQ also defended the operations of NAF, stating that, “it is worthy to point out clearly that, the NAF has lived up to its expectation in the North-east, alongside the Nigerian Army and Navy for the successes recorded against Boko Haram.”
He added that “the air force like the Army and Navy were not left out of the commendation given to the Chief of Defence Staff on the fight against Boko Haram by the United States of America secretary of state, on March 22, 2017 in New York.
“Consequently, Defence Headquarters hereby confirm to the general public that the NAF, has never failed in its tasks against Boko Haram terrorists in the North-east.
“Collectively, the armed forces will continue to work relentlessly to make Boko Haram activities in the North-east history in record time,” Enenche assured.
Meanwhile, in furtherance of the recently commenced Operation Ruwan Wuta, NAF conducted air interdiction on structures with two hoisted Boko Haram terrorists flags in Zanari, a known location with significant presence at the northern fringes of Borno State bordering Lake Chad.
NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Olatoknbo Adesanya, explained that “quite a number of Boko Haram terrorists had earlier been spotted, from a NAF Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance platform, entering the buildings apparently for meetings.
“The F-7Ni and the Alpha Jet aircraft were detailed to attack the target. Overhead the location, the target was acquired and engaged by the 2 aircraft, in rapid succession.
“Subsequent Battle Damage Assessment revealed that the targeted structures went up in flames, killing its occupants.”
Adesanya stated that “the objective of Operation Ruwan Wuta is to further degrade the capability of the Boko Haram terrorists thereby preventing them from regrouping to cause havoc for our surface forces
“The operation also aims at softening the ground for our surface forces to subsequently move in and conduct mopping up operations,” he stressed.