The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, on Thursday visited Borno State after a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Alpha-Jet went missing in the north-eastern state.
Amao, who arrived in the state barely a day after the incident occurred on Wednesday evening, was briefed on ongoing search and rescue efforts in connection with the missing aircraft.
He appealed to NAF pilots, engineers, and technicians on the ground to remain undeterred and resolute in their commitment to ensuring that peace was returned to the North East.
Before Amao’s visit to Borno the NAF jet went missing after it lost contact with radar while on an interdiction mission in support of ground troops fighting insurgency in the state.
The mission was said to be part of the ongoing counter-insurgency operations in the North East where insurgents have carried out series of attacks, killing thousands and displacing millions of civilians in over 10 years.
On February 21, the Nigerian Air Force lost seven of its personnel and one of its aircraft to a crash in Abuja.
The affected aircraft – Beechcraft KingAir B350i – crashed at Bassa village – just a few yards off the runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja.
While en route to Minna, the Niger State capital, the crew reported an engine failure and was on its way back to the airport before the aircraft crashed.
The late personnel were buried at the National Military Cemetery in Abuja.
