Skip to main content

NAF Apologises for Rann Bombing, Says It Remains Traumatic for Pilots

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on Monday said the bombing of Rann and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Borno State has remained a traumatic incident to its pilots fighting Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east.

While tendering apologies to victims of the Rann bombing, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, said authorities are working hard to prevent any future incident.

He said: “Sequel to the official statement by the Defence Headquarters on the unfortunate Rann bombing incident on 17 January 2017, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), being the service directly involved in the incident, would once more like to convey its deepest regrets to all concerned.

“It is important to reiterate that no NAF pilot leaves his base with the intention of going to kill the same set of people that he greatly sacrifices day and night to protect.

“The unfortunate bombing of innocent civilians in Rann, Borno State has, therefore, remained a traumatic incident for the NAF pilots involved and indeed, the entire NAF community.

“The NAF and other stakeholders are already taking necessary measures to prevent a recurrence of the unfortunate incident.”

Adesanya stated: “For instance, they are engaging humanitarian organisations in the North-east with a view to understanding their programmes and locations of such programmes in order to prevent gaps in communication.”

Meanwhile, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has directed appropriate NAF officials to intensify humanitarian intervention schemes for IDPs at Rann and other parts of the North-east.

Adesanya added: “There is an ongoing NAF medical outreach programme during which over 164 IDPs from various IDP Camps in Borno State have undergone free surgical operations in the NAF medical facility in Maiduguri. The programme is still ongoing and is scheduled to last for another three days.
“The NAF solicits the understanding and support of all Nigerians and members of the international community regarding the tragic incident.

“More importantly, the NAF again extends its most sincere condolences to all the families of the victims of the incident.
“The NAF assures the general public that it remains resolute in its task of preserving the territorial integrity of Nigeria and ensuring the security of all Nigerians,” Adesanya stressed.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The story of how Nigeria’s census figures became weaponized - Feyi Fawehinmi

By Feyi Fawehinmi The story of Nigeria’s 1962 census never gets old. Southern politicians seeking to end the north’s dominance of Nigerian politics decided that the only way to do it was through the census. Population figures at the time determined not only parliamentary representation but also revenue allocation and employee distribution in the civil service. In May 1962, the first census under an independent Nigerian government began. There had been a frenzy of mobilization by politicians in the south of the country using pamphlets, radio, schools, churches and mosques. Although the final results were not made public, the preliminary results were quite clear as to what had happened: the north’s population had gone up from 16.5 million in the last census in 1952 to 22.5 million, an increase of 30%. But in some parts of the east, the population had increased by up to 200% and more than 70% in general. The west also reported an increase of 70%. What the preliminary results showed...

FG borrows N3.38bn To Aid Potato Production in Plateau

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) wednesday approved N3.38 billion to boost the production of potatoes in Plateau State. The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, who made the disclosure said the money would be borrowed from Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) with one per cent interest rate and 25 years moratorium. The minister who said the loan was not fresh, explained that it had previously been cancelled by the federal government with the intention to make a fresh request for the loan on behalf of Plateau State which she said was responsible for 95 per cent of potato production in the country. According to her, following ADB’s comprehensive programme on potato production in Plateau State, 100,000 families and 17 local government areas of Plateau State would benefit from the loan while 60,000 jobs would be created by the initiative. “My approval was on behalf of Plateau State to support the potato value chain. There is a loan that we had previously cancelled from ...

Buhari's Economic Blueprint Does Not Address Nigerians' Need - Bill Gates

Sahara Reporters The present economic templates being used by the Muhammadu Buhari government do not have the ability to address the unique needs of Nigerians at present, American business magnate, Bill Gates, has said. The philanthropist and founder of Microsoft corporation however said Nigeria has the ability to approach ‘upper middle-income status’ like Brazil, China and Mexico, but added that achieving this status depends on ”the choice Nigerian leaders make”. Mr. Gates, at the special and expanded National Economic Council, held in Abuja on Thursday tasked Nigerian leaders to sincerely invest in not just infrastructural development but also human investment. The theme of the meeting was “Role of human capital investment in supporting pro-poor and economic growth agenda”. The investor said though Nigeria is rapidly approaching upper- middle income status, the country has ”unmatched economic potential and what becomes of that potential depends on the choice Nigerian ...