By Gideon Njoku
Why NAF Initially Denied The Crash
The story turned out to be true. The Media was right. The Nigerian Airforce, NAF, High Command was deliberately wrong. It deliberately deceived the Media, and made it look like the story was fake.
It was not.
An Airforce Alpha Jet on operational duty, crashed early Sunday morning somewhere in Zamfara State. But there is good news.
The brave and intelligence-driven Pilot, Flight Lt. Abayomi Dairo, deployed everything he was taught during training, and survived.
Flight Lt Abayomi is, unarguably, a hero in Nigeria’s battle against bandits and its terrorist senior brothers, Boko Haram and ISWAP, as well as their younger brothers, rogue herdsmen and kidnappers.
The story of Abayomi and how he survived is a story like no other since the war on terrorism began in Nigeria. It is the first the public has been told.
He had gone and accomplished an elimination of scores of bandits in the Zamfara area. It is a mission he had undertaken a number of times.
Mission accomplished, he was happily flying back to base, when he came under intense fire power from the terrorist. They got the Aircraft. But not him.
As the Jet was dangerously going down, the young Pilot ejected. He had the frame of mind to. The bandits went after him. But he was smarter than them. Has always been. Hiding under the cover of darkness, his brave heart thumping, they missed him. He outsmarted them.
Then, his phone came in handy. The torch light from the phone. He used it and, gradually, meandered his way to a village. He heaved a sigh of relief, and again, gradually found his way to a Military installation where his excited colleagues, both senior and junior, welcomed him with unprecedented joy.
When Daily Post, and other Online Mediums broke the story of the crash on Sunday, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, Director of Public Relations and Information, NAF, denied any such crash. By denying it, the Air Commodore made the Media look stupid and unpatriotic – reporting a military aircraft crash, when there was none. Understandably, he was trying to manage a fluid situation.
But the next day, Monday morning, Gabkwet swallowed his vomit, confirmed the crash, and told the heart-warming story of the gallant Pilot.
In a statement, Gabkwet said: “It is instructive to note that upon receipt of the news of the crash, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, had directed that all efforts must be emplaced to rescue the pilot”.
“Accordingly, NAF Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms and helicopter gunships provided close air support to NAF Special Forces and Nigerian Army troops who were able to locate the crash site and the pilot’s parachute, while also combing nearby locations for any sign of the pilot”.
“It is gladdening to note that while in hiding, Flight Lieutenant Dairo confirmed that the presence of NAF Aircraft within the vicinity of the crash site helped in scaring the bandits who were after him, thus enabling him to find refuge and escape to a safe location”.
“It is important to also recall that only recently, the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, had directed the Armed Forces of Nigeria to do all it takes to flush out criminal elements in Katsina, Zamfara and Kaduna States”.
“It is in fulfilment of this directive that the NAF, in conjunction with surface forces, has in the last 2 weeks mounted intensive day and night air interdiction operations against bandits and their hideouts, especially in these 3 states”.
“Through these intensive air operations, hundreds of bandits have been neutralized and several of their hideouts destroyed”.
“Despite the setback of yesterday’s crash, the NAF remains committed towards fulfilling Mr President’s mandate as well as other constitutional roles assigned to it”.
The Airforce has, in past few months, lost four of its operational Aircrafts to crashes.
