NAF urges caution when disseminating alleged crash site video

The Nigerian Air Force declared on Wednesday that it would reject the propaganda spread by terrorists aboard the crashed plane.

The response came in response to a video that was purportedly showed the wreckage of the MI-171 helicopter in Chukuba Village, Shiroro Local Government Area, Niger State, and the bodies of victims nearby. The video had been making the rounds on social media.

According to the NAF spokesperson, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, crashes are not unique to the Air Force and are occasionally unavoidable in counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations.

The wreckage of the MI-171 helicopter with the bodies of victims at Chukuba Village in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State is supposedly seen in a video that is circulating on social media platforms, the Nigerian Air Force has been alerted, he added. Although it is not in the NAF’s nature to reply to such allegations, especially ones made by terrorists, the urgency of addressing the misinformation is heightened by the well-intentioned worries of Nigerians.

“Incidences of fatalities, mishaps, and accidents are occasionally inevitable, as they are for all military groups engaged in counterinsurgency and terrorist operations. In an effort to halt the evil deeds of terrorists and criminal elements in the nation, the NAF has expanded the level of air operations during the past 8 years.

The possibility of air mishaps and accidents sometimes becomes unavoidable for a variety of reasons with increased levels of air operations brought on by an improved fleet, according to Gabkwet.

The statement continued, “In fact, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, said this much when he hosted Governor Umaru Bago of Niger State, yesterday, August 15, 2023, at his office, where he noted that the rates of aircraft accidents/incidences are directly proportional to the heightened level of air operations.”

He said the service would never be afraid to figure out what caused the crash.

While the NAF regrets such tragic events, especially when they result in the death of one of our colleagues, Gbkwet vowed that the Service would never hesitate to identify the crash’s likely cause and make conclusions from it.

Although he added that it might lower soldier morale, he encouraged people who were disseminating the film to avoid supporting the “propaganda inclinations of terrorists.”

The need to reconsider the effects of their actions on the morale of troops, families of deceased personnel, and Nigeria’s national security is imperative, the spokesperson said, for those who, intentionally or unintentionally, support the terrorists’ propaganda tendencies by disseminating videos of the alleged crash site with graphic images of dead military personnel.

He continued by saying that the military was unwavering and would see to it that the adversaries were defeated.

“For the NAF and in fact all of the personnel of the Armed Forces, our will and drive to improve the present security situation in Niger State and in fact other difficult areas of the nation remain unwavering. To the contrary, we are more determined than ever to engage the adversary head-on until they submit.

He pleaded with Nigerians for support for the military and other security forces, promising that the nation’s security forces will work together to defeat the adversaries.