By John Ikani
Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Alpha Jet marked NAF 475 is yet to be found, six months after it was declared missing.
Heritage Times had reported how the fighter jet went missing on Wednesday, March 31, 2021, in the insurgency-ravaged Borno State in Northeastern Nigeria.
NAF’s Director of Information and Public Relations, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet – in a statement two days after the aircraft went missing – said intelligence report gathered, indicated that the missing jet that went off the radar with two crew members on board on Wednesday, might have crashed.
Giving updates about search for the missing aircraft, the Air Force spokesperson in an interview with Sahara Reporters on Monday, said different rescue operations are ongoing in order to ascertain the whereabouts of the fighter plane.
“If there is anything new, actually I will tell you. We are still searching for the jet, if there is any new information, you will be the first person to know. No information on its whereabouts now, the search is still ongoing. It’s a continuous process,” he said.
Asked about the fate of the pilots and their families, he said, “There is a difference between absence without leave and missing in action, they are protecting our nation and got missing. Ours is a process that takes up to seven years in this kind of situation. The pilots are still part of Nigerian Air Force till date.”
