Chibok girls' possible location identified - Air Force

dimeji akinloye

February 12, 2016 10:05 PM

The Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa, said the Air Force has been deliberately avoiding that location in the ongoing aerial bombardment of Sambisa forest, so keep the girls safe.

Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaigners take part in a protest procession marking the 500th day since the abduction of girls in Chibok, along a road in Abuja August 27, 2015. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

The Nigerian Air Force has said the location of the abducted Chibok girls may have been identified.

Speaking to Channels TV, the Director of Public Relations at the Nigerian Air Force, Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa, said the Air Force has been deliberately avoiding that location in the ongoing aerial bombardment of Sambisa forest, so keep the girls safe.

He said the recent bombardment had been aimed at the logistics base of the Boko Haram sect and not where the girls are.

“We have no fears that the girls are not there because hat particular location has been under surveillance for quite a while and we suspected maybe its a kind of ammunition depot or maybe a workshop that they are using as their logistics place.

“Once you take off the logistics base, of course you gradually weaken the resolve of the enemy to be able to prosecute any campaign,” he said.

READ: ‘Boko Haram has trained Chibok girls as soldiers, given them guns,’ rescued captive says

Explaining the tactics used by the Air Force to locate the girls, Famuyiwa said: ”The UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) has become a force multiplier for us because its cheaper to run these platforms, you are not putting men there (and) the risk of losing human beings is greatly reduced.

“Again the UAVs have the capability to be airborne for up to eleven hours and its quite cheap to maintain. So, we have been able to employ the UAV to a great extent to carry out reconnaissance and surveillance basically for intelligence gathering on the activities of the Boko Haram.”

He added that the UAVs have also helped the Air Force to understand Boko Haram's pattern of movement and “how to be able to counter them should they want to strike or spring any surprise”.

dimeji akinloye