The plane was said to have crashed on Saturday at Gabun village near Gaanda, in Gombi Local Government of the state.
Local farmers in Gombi Local Government Area of the state yesterday
claimed to have sighted an aircraft that crashed at a place near Gabun
primary school.
The residents said they saw a ‘low-flying jumbo jet’ matching the
description of the missing Alpha Jet after it disappeared on Friday.
Several residents of Hawul, a border town in Borno State, also said they
saw an aircraft in military colours with green-red-stripes flying so
low over the mountains as the plane’s doors were clearly visible.
The residents, who are predominantly farmers, claimed they were
disturbed by the incredibly loud noise on Friday, with the plane
travelling from north to south-east, towards Hawul– Gabun.
A witness was said to have noted that “I’ve never seen a jet flying so
low over our mountains before. We’ve seen planes, but I’m sure that this
was not one of those. I could even make out the doors on the plane
clearly.
“It’s not just me; several other residents have reported seeing the same
thing. Some people got out of their houses to see what was causing the
tremendous noise too.”
According sources, the plane may have crashed at Gabun, near a primary
school, but without hurting the natives, as the pupils were reportedly
not in session during the incident.
Gabun is a mountainous terrain, which runs through Biu in Borno State.
The village is a short distance from Michika and Madagali Local
Government areas of the state where the military had engaged the Boko
Haram terrorists last week in a bid to rout them from the areas they
claimed they were in control.
It could, however, not be ascertained as at press time whether the two
pilots said to have been on board survived or not, but a statement on
the issue was still being expected by the Defence Headquarters .
Defence Headquarters had declared the Alpha Jet (NAF 466) missing in operation in Adamawa State.
Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade stated on
Sunday that the aircraft, with two pilots on board, left Yola at about
10:45am on Friday, 12th September 2014, on a routine operational mission
and was expected back by 12:00 noon but it never returned.
“Since then, all efforts to establish contact with the aircraft have not
yielded any positive result. Meanwhile, search and rescue effort is
ongoing to establish contact with the crew,” the short statement by the
Defence spokesman had said.
A search and rescue operation had combed the place, but no further information was given.
The military, backed by war planes, has been fighting to push back
recent advances by Boko Haram into the north of Adamawa state and also
towards Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
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