… Says No Military Helicopter Crash
…Claims Of Hunters’ Exploit Flipsy, Exaggerated
By Ibrahim Imam, Kaduna.
The defence headquarters has denied media reports that another helicopter crashed Friday in the northeast region, saying there was no crash involving any Helicopter or Airplane of the Nigerian Air Force today as reported on social media.
Even as it expressed concern over what it called the misrepresentation of the involvement of hunters in the counter -terrorism operations.
The defence headquarters said the military is currently conducting aggressive patrols in and around Garkida after clearing the town of terrorists yesterday.
A statement on its twitter handle said, “a highly coordinated Air Force operation is backing the troop’s movement and operations in the mission area.”
It added that, “similar air and land patrols along with mop up operations are being conducted in places such as Gombi, Pella, Hong, Fachi and Duma localities where terrorists have been dislodged as troops continue to advance in their pursuit.
Meanwhile more heavy weapons such as Anti-Aircraft Guns, General Purpose Machine Guns, IED materials, Rocket Propel Launchers as well as rifles and items such as vehicles, motorcycles are being recovered from the fleeing terrorists.
“The content of other items such as projector, DVD players, laptop computers, mobile phone handsets, memory cards and flash drives recovered from the terrorists are presently being analysed for vital information.
“The morale of troops is reported high as they continue on the offensive. The bodies of 2 soldiers who died in one of the encounters have been recovered while the 5 wounded including a Brigade Commander are presently receiving treatment.
Also, the defence headquarters expressed concern over what it called the misrepresentation of the Involvement of hunters in the counter -terrorism operations.
“All the flimsy and exaggerated claims of hunters’ exploits in the ongoing operations are simply intended to foster a mischievous campaign aimed at disparaging and depreciating the professional efforts of the Nigerian military at containing the terrorists especially in Adamawa.
“It is obvious that the intention is to ridicule and discourage the military,” it said, adding that the armed forces are not moved by such antics.
It added that, “While appreciating the effort of the hunters and citizens who have been supporting our troops in the onslaught, the military still remains in the vanguard of the mission to rid the nation of terrorists and their activities.
“We will remain focused and utilize only well-meaning support and advice in the ongoing campaign to wipe out terrorists.
“Much as we are aware of the politicians who are promoting the campaign for whatever reasons, we will not be distracted by their antics.
“The result of present efforts will soon manifest for the whole world to see and Nigerians and their military will not be diminished as intended by those engaging in the campaign of calumny against the Nigerian military.
“We however caution Nigerians not to allow themselves to be hoodwinked into danger, by some false reports on so called liberation of certain areas, we can only vouch for areas where the military has reported cleared of terrorists,” the defence headquarters stated.
