A terrorist group headed by Dogo Gide has claimed responsibility for the crash of a Nigeria Air Force (NAF) surveillance helicopter in Badna, Chukuba ward in Shiroro local government area of Niger State on Monday, August 14.
Recall that the NAF had said its MI-171 helicopter on a casualty evacuation mission crashed in Badna village and that investigation had commenced to determine the probable cause of the crash.
However, the Gide terrorist group said in a viral video allegedly recorded at the site of the crash that it downed the chopper using AK47 rifle.
The narrator in the video said he belonged to Dogo Gide group that has terrorised parts of Niger State, causing deaths of many farmers and security operatives.
In the less-than-three minutes clip, the terrorists claimed they killed dozens of soldiers on the aircraft.
The video showed terrorists wielding AK-47s. The aircraft had the inscription NAF 582.
The narrator was heard saying in Hausa language: “These are bodies belonging to soldiers of the Nigerian Army who attacked us with the intention of causing us harm.
“They did this to see the downfall of Dogo Gide and by God’s grace, he is still alive and won’t die.
“These are dozens of soldiers as you can see them. This is their airplane. Repent, we have no business with anyone except those who try to come for us. This is God’s work. We used an AK-47 to bring down this plane.
“Take a look at them. Let this be a lesson. You all should repent. It is not our intention to kill but for everyone to be enlightened and have the fear of God. Leaders who sent these soldiers our way to be killed by us should repent.
“We won’t surrender from pressure or even an aeroplane. Dogo Gide, who is their target, won’t die now. He is still alive. These are the AK-47s we used to bring down this plane.
“We opened fire when we sighted them and they did the same. Repent and fear God. We pray for God’s mercy at all times. This is God’s work and not ours as you can see.”
Meanwhile, the chief of air staff, Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar shed some light on the military helicopter crashes citing the weather condition.
Speaking in his office at NAF headquarters, Abuja, when the governor of Niger State, Mr Umar Bago, paid him a condolence visit, Abubakar said the ideal thing is to strive for zero incident and accident in any operational environment.
“We are striving for that. It is virtually impossible to achieve but then, you strive for it, so that at the end of the day, you minimise whatever happens. Or when it happens, the effect is significantly abated.
“We are putting a lot of initiatives in place to check this. For example, we have adopted the safety management systems in all our operations. We have also adopted operational risk management procedures among others. Going forward, we are striving to achieve zero incidents in all our operations.
“We also have other challenges which are seasonal. For example, the rain has come and there is route cloud, and this hampers what we can see, especially in terms of our strike capabilities.
“Also, when the harmattan comes, it also has effects on our operations. These are challenges we live with and we hope that sometimes you understand when our operations are hampered or impeded by some of these challenges,” he said.
Abubakar said as long as they operate and fly in order to degrade the enemies, incidents or accidents cannot be ruled out, adding that the important thing is to ensure the problem is reduced to the barest minimum.
He assured that the NAF and the armed forces would remain committed, dedicated and undaunted in their efforts to eradicate security challenges perpetrated by these non-state actors.
“The fact is that as long as we operate, fly airplanes, there would be incidents and accidents. In fact, the volume of incidents and accidents is directly proportional to the rate of operations,” he declared.
Responding, Bago appealed to NAF not to be tired of fighting the insurgents.
He urged Abubakar to send some detachment and some fighter aircraft to Minna Airport for quick intervention when the enemies are advancing.
He promised NAF that the state government was ready to provide accommodation for the air force personnel in Minna close to the airport, stressing that the citizens need military protection in the state.
“Your deployment of both fighter jets and UAVs have been very apt and helpful to the ground troops and our own local vigilantes. But like Oliver Twist, we need more.
“I have come here to say Minna airport was created as a backup for Abuja airport and we have the longest runways in Nigeria. We’re calling on you to please send some detachment and some fighter planes to Minna, so that we can have more rapid responses from when they are very close instead of flying from either Kainji or Kaduna.
“Let me at this juncture say thank you for giving us this time, and to say that Niger State government will support you anywhere you are. We are happy with what you’re doing and we’re behind you and we will support you.
“Our people have also asked me to tell you that we can actually give you accommodation if you can bring people. We will provide accommodation very close to airport in Minna to come and stay in Minna because we need your protection.” Bago told air chief during the meeting,” the governor added.
