Nigerian Air Force intensifies efforts to locate missing Dapchi girls
- NAF says it has intensified efforts to find the 110 Dapchi schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents days ago
- The Force said its boss Air Marshal Sadique has approved full-scale search operations for the rescue of the girls
- NAF says its search and rescue operations will be conducted both night and day until the girls are found
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has announced the deployment of more fighter jets, helicopters and other military aircraft in renewed efforts to find the 110 school girls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents in Dapchi, Yobe state on Monday, February 19.
NAF said in a statement on Sunday, February 25 that the chief of air staff Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar has ordered that more aircraft be drafted into the search efforts.
The Air Force also released several pictures of mean-looking fighter jets, helicopters and military cargo planes which have been deployed for duty in the northeast state.
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The Force also released dedicated phone numbers that those with useful information on the girls' whereabouts can call.
The statement which was signed by Air Vice sMarshal Olatokuno Adesanya, the Air Force's director of public relations and information, read:
"The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has deployed additional air assets, including Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms, to the Northeast in a renewed effort at locating the missing Dapchi girls.
"Before now, following confirmation of reports that some of the girls were yet to be accounted for, the NAF had deployed some ISR platforms and helicopters to search for and possibly locate the missing girls as well as the rogue Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs).
"Although these search operations were conducted in a covert manner, for obvious reasons, the efforts did not yield the desired results.
"Accordingly, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, directed the immediate deployment of additional air assets and NAF personnel to the Northeast with the sole mission of conducting day and night searches for the missing girls.
"It is noteworthy that the renewed efforts at locating the girls are being conducted in close liaison with other surface security forces.
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"While the NAF will spare no efforts at possibly locating the girls via its air operations, it also seizes this opportunity to call on anyone, especially the locals, who might have any useful information that could lead to the location of the girls to bring such information forward to NAF authorities through any of the following GSM numbers: 08122557720, 08035733438, 08172843484 or 08058419128. Such useful information could also be forwarded to other relevant security agencies.
The fresh deployments by NAF came just as the Nigerian government confirmed that not fewer than 110 schoolgirls are indeed missing from a government girls college in Dapchi, Yobe state after a Boko Haram attack on the high school on Monday, February 19.
The government confirmed this in a statement signed by Segun Adeyemi, the special assistant to information minister Lai Mohammed.
Nigerian Air Force operations against Boko Haram - on Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit.ng
