Strong indications emerged in Adamawa State on Sunday that the Nigerian Air Force Alpha Fighter Jet that was reported missing on Friday had been discovered.
Sources close to the Air Force Base in Yola confirmed that the crashed Jet had been located in Lala in Gombi Local Government Area of the state.
Daily Independent gathered that the Alpha Jet (NAF 466) which participated in the counter- insurgency operation against the Boko Haram went off radar since Friday, but was said have been discovered through the help of some villagers in Lala of Gombi Local Government Area.
However, efforts to contact the Air Force public relations officer proved abortive as his Personal Assistant (PA) Wing Commander Sunday told Daily Independent that he was not competent to talk to the press on the matter.
A statement by the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) on Sunday night had said that all efforts to establish contact with plane had since proved abortive.
“An Alpha Jet (NAF 466) belonging to the Nigerian Air Force is missing around Adamawa State. The aircraft, with two pilots on board, left Yola at about 10:45 a.m. on September 12, 2014 on a routine operational mission and was expected back by 12 noon.
“Since then all efforts to establish contact with the aircraft have not yielded any positive result. Meanwhile, search and rescue effort is ongoing to establish contact with the crew,” DHQ stated.
The DHQ had in its tweeter handle on Thursday disclosed that highly co-ordinated air and land operations were going on in the North East where the terrorists had overrun some towns and that efforts were on to recapture and rid the areas of the insurgents.
“Highly co-ordinated Air and Land OPs are ongoing. The efforts are yielding impressive results in the overall move to rid area of terrorists,” the DHQ stated.
Meanwhile, Adamawa State Acting Governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, has sympathised with the Nigeria Air Force over the loss of its Fighter Jet which was confirmed to have crashed in the state while on a mission to flush out insurgents in some border towns of the state.
The Acting governor’s message was contained in a press statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Comrade Solomon Kumangar.
He, however, commended the resilience of the Nigerian Military and the gains they were making in the war against the insurgents.
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