The Nigerian Air Force, on Sunday, allayed public fears following media reports that one of its aircraft crashed, Punch Newspaper.
The fighter jet was said to have left Yola, the Adamawa State capital, on Sunday morning for an operation in Kaduna, where the supposed crash occurred.
However, the Director of Public Relations and Information, NAF, Edward Gabkwet, in a terse WhatsApp statement in Abuja, said none of its aircraft left Yola for Kaduna State.
“No crash in Kaduna; no aircraft left Yola for Kaduna. I am making contact and awaiting information from other locations,” he said.
There had been anxiety over the whereabouts of a NAF jet rumoured to be on an operational mission to the bandits’ ravaged North-West zone of the country.
A source told one of our correspondents that the Alpha jet might have crashed in the Birnin Gwari Local Government Area between Kaduna and Katsina states.
Another source said the aircraft was on an operational mission and disappeared from the radar between Funtua in Katsina State and Gusau in Zamfara State.
It was learnt there was no casualty as the only pilot on board the jet escaped unhurt.
It was gathered that the aircraft departed Yola, the Adamawa State capital on a mission to attack bandits in an undisclosed location near the Birnin Gwari area when the incident occurred.
“The accident involved a NAF Alpha jet on a mission between the border of Kaduna and Katsina states. No life was lost. The lone pilot ejected before the crash,” the source stated.
“The accident involved a NAF Alpha jet on a mission between the border of Kaduna and Katsina states. No life was lost. The lone pilot ejected before the crash,” the source stated.
But another source said, “They said the plane disappeared from the radar between Funtua and Gusau. The military aircraft was on an operational mission to the North-West states being ravaged by bandits.
“The jet, which departed Adamawa State, was on a mission to fight bandits.”