Skip to main content

Ministers, BBOG search for missing Chibok Girls in Sambisa

Ministers of Defence and Information and Culture during the flight over Sambisa forest

The Ministers of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali and the convener of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group, Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili on Monday participated in a search sorties for missing Chibok girls in Sambisa.

Another member of BBOG, Hajia Aisha Yusuf, some Air Force Commanding Officers in the North East operation and selected reporters from local and foreign media participated in the exercise,

The team, who were carried in two Beechcraft 350 surveillance aircraft, departed the Yola Air Force Base at about 2.30 p.m.

News Agency of Nigeria correspondent, who was among the team, reports that the aircraft flying at about 15,000 feet altitude entered the Sambisa general area, 35 minutes after departure.

The search sorties in the forest, which lasted for over an hour, took the team to Camp Zairo, hitherto the stronghold of the Boko Haram, captured by the home troop on Dec. 22, as well as other key spots in the forest.

Sambisa forest is said to cover 60,000 square kilometres which is about 18 times the size of Lagos and 85 per cent of Borno State land surface.

With the aid of sophisticated inbuilt surveillance camera in the aircraft, the team were shown the video images of burnt vehicles and camps of the Boko Haram insurgents particularly Camp Zairo.

The burnt areas according to the Commanding Officers were consequent of attacks carried out by air strike and ground troops of the military.

The images of the tracks of the insurgents as well as the locations of the ground troops of the military who have occupied the forest were also shown to the team.

One of the surveillance aircraft discovered skeletal movement of some sort in the forest.

The aircraft, thereafter, proceeded to Airforce Base Maiduguri, the headquarters of 105 Composite group for surveillance report and refuelling.

Upon arrival at Maiduguri Airforce Base at about 4.30 p.m. and after the surveillance briefing on the skeletal movement, an Alpha fighter jet flown by only a pilot unaccompanied was deployed into the forest.

The team later left Maiduguri for Yola .

NAN reports that another search sorties by the team is billed for the midnight and would last till morning.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Court grants Fani-Kayode N50m bail

Fani-kayode sandwiched by EFCC officials Justice James Tsoho of the Federal High Court Abuja on Thursday granted a N50m bail to former spokesman of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. Fani-Kayode was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a five-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N26m. Fani-Kayode is the sole defendant in the fresh charges numbered, FHC/ABJ/CR/140/2016. The EFCC accused the defendant of diverting 26 million Naira allegedly received from the ONSA while Sambo Dasuki was in office. The anti-graft agency also accused him of handling the said N26 million without going through financial institution as required under the Money Laundering Act. The embattled former minister is already facing 17-count charge of money laundering before the Lagos Division of the court, along with a former Finance Minister; Nenadi Usman, Danjuma Yusuf and a firm; Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited. They were charg...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pope not involved in Colombian peace deal- Vatican

Pope Francis Pope Francis has turned down a request to play a role in the peace deal between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group. The Vatican in a statement issued on Wednesday in in Vatican City said that an invitation was sent to his Holiness in early August to appoint a representative to participate in the committee that selected the judges for the talks. The statement said that though Pope Francis supported the peace process, he, however, reiterated that he would not get involved in Colombian peace deal. It said that Pope was praying for the enlightenment of the hearts and minds of those who were called to promote the common good of the Colombian nation. A deal was announced last week, putting an end to five decades of internal conflict between government forces and the FARC rebels. The agreement, which needed to be ratified through a referendum in Oct. 2, would entail setting up a special court to grant amnesties or pu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fall of Assad is a Blow to Russia's Prestige

The potential fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a long-standing ally of Russia, would mark a turning point in Moscow’s global influence, particularly in the Middle East. Steve Rosenberg’s analysis underscores the profound implications for Russia, which has invested heavily—both militarily and politically—in ensuring Assad’s survival over the past decade. This article delves into why Assad’s downfall would strike at the core of Russian prestige and what it could mean for the broader geopolitical landscape. Russia's Strategic Commitment to Syria Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Russia has been a staunch supporter of Assad's regime. In 2015, Moscow launched a military intervention that proved decisive in stabilizing Assad’s hold on power. This intervention solidified Russia's role as a key power broker in the Middle East and demonstrated its willingness to project military power far beyond its borders. Syria is not just an ally for Russia; it is a...
Post a Comment
Read more