The Nigerian Air Force has dismissed the claim by a faction of the Boko Haram insurgents that it shot down the missing Air Force AlphaJ et.
Director of Public Relations and Information, NAF Headquarters, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, in a statement, described as fake ns misleading videos being circulated on social media by the insurgents as proof of its claims.
A Boko Haram faction led by Abubakar Shekau on Friday released videos on social media showing what it claimed to be the downing of a Nigerian Air Force Alpha Jet which exploded mid-air.
One of the videos, lasting about seven minutes and 30 seconds, showed an Alpha Jet flying low over a battlefield arena with several insurgents involved in a firefight.
Another one shows several terrorists on motorcycles and vehicles sporadically shooting at an aircraft.
Gabkwet said members of the sect had doctored the videos.
“Although the videos are still being thoroughly analysed, it is evident that most parts were deliberately doctored to give a false impression that the aircraft was shot down,” he said.
“For instance, the video clip failed to show the correlation between the sporadic shooting, which even from casual observation was obviously aimed at ground targets, and the sudden mid-air aircraft explosion.
“In addition, it is almost impossible for an aircraft to have exploded mid-air, in the manner depicted in the video, and still have a good part of its fuselage, including its tail, intact.
“Indeed, an explosive impact of that nature would have scattered the debris of the aircraft across several miles.”
According to Gabkwet, the insurgents, in their characteristic manner of employing propaganda, were seeking to claim credit for what was obviously an air accident that could have been caused by several other reasons.
He restated the government’s position that the capability of the group to inflict mayhem had been significantly degraded by the Nigerian military.
He advised Nigerians to disregard the contents of the videos making the rounds until all investigations as to how the aircraft crashed were completed.
The NAF added that the service remained resolute and would continue to work
NAF lost radar contact with an Alpha Jet conducting a routine mission on Wednesday evening in the Sambisa forest area of Northeast Nigeria.
