Nigeria’s airforce boss, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar has revealed that the Nigerian military doesn’t know where the abducted Chibok schoolgirls are being kept by Boko Haram. He also said there is no definitive information that the girls are being kept in Sambisa Forest.
Abubakar made this disclosure while speaking with journalist in Abuja on Saturday, August 20, 2016, the chief of air staff.
“Honestly we don’t. That is the truth of the matter. Even if you see women that are dressed in hijab, how are you sure they are women; that they are not men? It is only when you get there and they remove the hijab that you now realise that they are men and they have their rifles. There is no credible intelligence that will specifically tell you that these girls are here,” Abubakar.
Air Marshal Abubakar also said that the NAF are doing all they can to find the whereabouts of the missing girls.
“There is no day that the sun rises and sets that we do not go out hoping to see these girls.From January this year to August 17, we flew 2,600 hours. About 50 per cent of that was Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance.
“We are hoping that through the intelligence, we will be able to capture the movement of those girls; we will be able to locate what we consider legitimate targets.”
Abubakar rejected the latest Boko Haram video that showed girls claimed were killed by military bombing as cheap propaganda.
He explained that bodies of people killed by bombing would not be intact as the bodies in the video had been displayed.
He added that Boko Haram rebels are trying to draw out emotional responses from Nigeria as they are aware that the entire nation is concerned about the safety of the girls.
Abubakar also discussed the issues in the South-South. The Chief of Air Staff confirmed that the Air Force would soon begin operations. However, it would not bomb the Niger Delta, as its one of its mission is to protect people and facilities.
“We are not going to bomb the Niger Delta; we are going to protect the people and oil and gas infrastructure,” he said.
