The Chief of Air Staff,
Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, says the Nigerian Air Force has no intelligence
on whether the Chibok girls are in Sambisa Forest or not.
Abubakar, who spoke during an interactive
session with journalists in Abuja on Saturday, however, said the NAF was
working round the clock to rescue the girls and other Nigerians
abducted by Boko Haram.
The NAF chief also commented on the operation
of the force in the South-South, saying the air force would not bomb Niger
Delta.
When Abubakar was asked
if the air force had any intelligence on whether Chibok girls were in the
Sambisa Forest or not, he said, “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.”
He said the air force flew its planes daily
with the hope of sighting the Chibok girls, adding that the military, like
other Nigerians, was passionate about them.
He said about 50 per cent of the NAF flying
missions in counter-insurgency operations were devoted to Intelligence
Surveillance Reconnaissance.
According to him, the ISR is aimed at rescuing
the Chibok girls and other Nigerians abducted by the sect.
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