Nigerian Airforce missing fighter jet found in Bama area of Borno – Source

The Nigeria Airforce missing fighter jet may have been found in Bama area of Borno after an intensive search since Wednesday last week that the ill-fated plane lost contact with the radar.

Sources disclosed that the Nigerian Air Force also recovered a body of one of the two pilots and the wreckage of the plane while search for the other pilot in the plane is being intensified.

The source within the military authorities on Sunday revealed that the body found was that of Flight Lieutenant Chapele Ebiakpo which the report said was found intact.

The second pilot, Flight Lieutenant John Abolarinwa, was yet to be found, dead or alive amid fears that he may not survive the crash, but troops on the ground have been asked to intensify his search.

The Air Force had declared the Alpha Jet fighter aircraft, NAF 475, missing on March 31, saying a few days later that it might have crashed.

CAPITAL POST earlier reported that Boko Haram insurgents claimed to have “blown the plane mid air” while the terrorists released a footage of the wrecked plane, a claim refuted by the military authorities.

The Military report earlier clarified that the fighter jet had reached an estimated altitude of 15,000 feet, five minutes after it too off, hence, Boko Haram terrorists could not have any weapon to blow it from there.

The military described Boko Haram’s claim as mere propaganda.

“Given what we have seen, the jet could not have been hit by any missile. It must have been caused by a technical fault that would be revealed by ongoing investigations,” he said.

The jet, according to Air Force spokesman, Commodore Edward Gabkwet, was on an interdiction mission in support of ground troopsas part of the ongoing counterinsurgency operations in the North-eastwhen it lost contact with the radar.

“The loss of radar contact occurred at about 5:08 p.m. on 31 March 2021,” he said in a statement last week.