NAF DISMISSES BOKO HARAM CHIBOK VIDEO CLAIMS AS CHEAP PROPAGANDA

The Nigerian Airforce has dismissed the recent video of Boko Haram claiming some of the Chibok girls were killed in airstrikes, as a ruse.

According to the Director of Public Relations and Information, Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa, the video was another mischievous effort by the dying sect to draw public attention to itself.

In a Press Release made available to the media, Group Captain Famuyiwa explained that although the Boko Haram video did show a cross section of the abducted girls and an airborne aircraft, it provided no evidence that the supposed casualties were as a result of any air to ground attack and as such, could be dismissed outright as a desperate effort by the terrorists to discredit the efforts of the Nigerian Airforce in its combat operations in the North-East.

According to him, “the impact and accompanying degree of damage to the bodies would have been more, were they to have died from air strike”

Continuing, he said, “there is sufficient evidence to believe that the casualties were arranged, as the positioning of the bodies clearly defiles any natural setting of a location that has undergone aerial bombardment. It is therefore clear that the video is a make-up story to discredit the NAF, and more importantly, a deliberate effort to weep up sentiment among the public in order to dissuade and discontinue the use of airpower which has proved very effective as the major determinant factor in the successes recorded in the ongoing counterinsurgency operations in the North East.”

 The Group Captain thereafter asserted that the Nigerian Airforce always conducted its operations with utmost professionalism and adherence to the rules of engagement. In his words, “The NAF has put-in place a number of measures to avoid the incidence of collateral damage. To this end, considerable effort is committed to undertaking Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions, both day and night, to ensure that only legitimate military targets are engaged.”

“Besides, NAF ISR platforms carry highly sophisticated equipment on-board which are able to provide pin-point accurate intelligence about target location and description as depicted in the enclosed video on our ISR operations. And where there are doubts about target status, we do not undertake strike missions."