Air Force urges Boko Haram surrender

Report by nan
A Nigerian Air Force attack helicopter.

The Nigerian Air Force on Wednesday said it had opened a window for Boko Haram members wishing to surrender to do so, after intensive bombardment at their Sambisa Forest hideout in Borno state.

The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadiq Abubakar, disclosed this at a news conference in Maiduguri.

“We have conducted intensive bombardment that lasted more than eight days at the Sambisa Forest.

“We have now opened a window for those wishing to surrender to do so.”

Abubakar added that the target was to eliminate the terrorists and ensure the return of peace in the North East.

“Our aim is to restore the sanity of our people and to ensure that there is peace everywhere in the North East.”

In a statement on Tuesday,  Air Force spokesman, Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa, said  NAF in the past week successfully struck a number of Boko Haram locations, including their logistics bases in the forest.

He added that air interdiction missions were continuously conducted with a combination of combat platforms comprising F-7Ni fighter aircraft, Alpha jets and Mi-24V helicopter gunship.

He said the latest air strikes against the Boko Haram were fallouts of the Operation Forest Storm launched by the NAF on  October 2 to further degrade the capability of the militants within the forest. He added that the strikes were to create the enabling environment for ground forces to continue their operation.

He said from Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), it appeared the insurgents were low on logistics as there was indication of vehicular movement.

He said a Battle Damage Assessment showed that the entire operation was a success as a number of the insurgents were killed