Nigerian Air Force (NAF) pilots on Operation Ruwan Wutta II are upbeat on their mission to wipe out remnants of Boko Haram militants in the Northeast.
The NAF special operation which commenced October 23, 2017 is an intensive day and night aerial bombardment of newly discovered hideouts of the terrorists.
The pilots were deployed from several locations to bolster those stationed in Maiduguri at the Air Force Base, Theater Command of the Air Force component of the counter-insurgency effort of the Nigerian military.
At the NAF Base in Maiduguri are five aircraft-three Alpha Jets and two F-7Ni which conduct attack missions regularly on the fringes of the Sambisa forest.
The Alpha Jets and the F-Ni take turns to attack locations with bombs, destroying the targeted structures and killing the terrorists. Some of the pilots who spoke to Daily Trust showed unyielding commitment in the fight to rid the country of terrorists.
Flight Lieutenant Ilu Umar Yusuf who pilots the MI-17 combat helicopter, said he had been in the theater of war for over three years. He said the MI-17 combat helicopter is used for casualty and medical evacuation, combat search and rescue and air to surface attacks.
He said, “I cannot really count the number of attacks, because we go day and night, and since it is an air interdiction, you go to the enemy territory and drop bombs, and sometimes you use rockets on the enemy.
“We are highly motivated because everyday we fly, we know that we are saving lives of innocent civilians, if we don’t go out, Boko Haram terrorists will end up killing innocent civilians.
“We are motivated, I’m telling Boko Haram that we are coming for them, we will keep coming for them, and in-fact we are coming for them this night.”
Another officer, Flight Lieutenant Ibitoye Babatunde who pilots the Alpha Jet, said each time he goes out on a mission, he was excited because the mission would save lives.
He told Daily Trust: “That’s what we set out to do everyday, we go to save lives and defend the territorial integrity of the country.
“We are trained to first keep ourselves safe before we proceed to ensure that others are safe, but nevertheless, we still set out on our mission which is to decimate the enemies and reduce their strength and capability to attack surface troops.
“The alpha get is a very reliable aircraft, and its role in air to ground attack is very impressive, we have nothing to worry about when flying the air craft.”
Ibitoye added, “I enjoy what I do, I see it as fun to get up there and carry out my responsibility as a soldier, I see it as fun, so automatically you are motivated, it is either they repent or die.”
Also in a chat with Daily Trust, another officer, Squadron Leader Asa Abatoba who pilots the F7 aircraft said, “For just this Operation Ruwan Wuta II so far I have flown about 16 sorties, the honest and bitter truth is that I don’t leave my target for tomorrow. It gives me the greatest kick I can ever get to see that I’m trying to make people live safely in this country, which is part of my duties as a military person.”
The Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar in Maiduguri, said Operation Ruwan Wutta II seeks to end Boko Haram terrorists’ attempt to recolonize any part of the Northeast.
Speaking with newsmen in Maiduguri, Abubakar said certain observations noted after Operation Ruwan Wutta I would be addressed in Ruwan Wuta II.
He said, “The desire of the NAF is to ensure that any attempt by Boko Haram to re-colonize any part of the forest is frustrated, especially those areas that are close to communities and our land forces.”
He added, “We have succeeded in doing that in the last four or five days that we commenced this operation and the operation is going to continue. We have a highly committed and patriotic team that is working round the clock to frustrate any effort by the terrorists to make Nigeria unstable.”
He also said the relationship between the Air Force and other sister agencies involved in the counter-terrorism war had been excellent.
“In terms of coordination, there is excellent coordination, we are working well, there might be a few challenges here and there as usual in any war which probably has to do with communication,” he said.
Reacting to the recent suicide attacks by Boko Haram in some Northeastern towns, he said Air Force surveillance planes constantly flew over the area to gather intelligence.
He said, “We had the Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance (ISR) platform overhead Damaturu just the day before yesterday, from Alagarno axis all the way to Damaturu, we also had the newly acquired helicopter gunships that were overhead those areas generally.
“We have aircraft around Madagali area in Adamawa State, we have aircraft in Sambisa here in Borno State, the whole of the Northeast is over 150,000 square kilometers, for you to be on every inch of the land is something that is extremely difficult.
“What we are doing is that we are using all the assets we have to the best of our ability to ensure that the days of 2014 do not return again. I want to assure you that from what we are seeing and what we are doing, Nigeria will remain secure, the Northeast will remain secure.”
He praised the commitment of the pilots and other sister services which he said showed that everybody wants to work round the clock to ensure that communities are secured and people go about their normal businesses.
He also said soon more helicopters would be inducted into the theater of war to enhance counter-insurgency capabilities.
This he noted is why the apron of the Air Force Base in Maiduguri has been extended to provide room for additional air planes.
He said the Air Force medical outreach in Internally Displaced Persons’ camps would continue to provide the needed succor to displaced persons in the Northeast.
“Close to a hundred surgeries were conducted in the last few days, and I have not heard anybody complaining, everybody is happy. People walk in with sticks at our medical centre and walk out without sticks, a simple eye operation clears the thing and the man can see again, you need to see the excitement. When somebody that cannot see, and then starts suddenly seeing people, that is what touches our hearts and we are very comfortable with what we are doing.”
