The Nigerian Air Force has given a hope of the possible locations in Sambisa Forest, of some of the over 200 female students of the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, who were abducted by members of Boko Haram in April 2014.
According to the Director of Public Relations at the Nigerian Air Force, Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa, the soldiers are being careful in their recent bombardment of the Forest so as not to hit the places where the girls are suspected to be kept by the insurgents.
He told Channels Television that the Air Force is abstaining from attacking the area to make sure that the girls are not hit, adding that the latest aerial bombardment of Sambisa forest had been aimed at the logistics base of the Boko Haram sect.
“We have no fears that the girls are not there because that particular location has been under surveillance for quite a while and we suspected maybe, it is a kind of ammunition depot or maybe a workshop that they are using as their logistics place.
“Once you take off the logistics base, of course you gradually weaken the resolve of the enemy to be able to prosecute any campaign,” he said.
Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa said that one of the methods used by the Air Force to locate the girls is the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), which he said has become a force multiplier because it is cheaper to run the platforms.
You are not putting men there (and) the risk of losing human beings is greatly reduced. Again the UAVs have the capability to be airborne for up to eleven hours and its quite cheap to maintain. So, we have been able to employ the UAV to a great extent to carry out reconnaissance and surveillance basically for intelligence gathering on the activities of the Boko Haram.”
He said that the UAVs have also helped the Air Force to understand the terrorists’ pattern of movement and “how to be able to counter them should they want to strike or spring any surprise.” [myad]
