a man they said was the pilot of the missing fighter Jet.Thw military
has doubts that the man killed was actually one of the pilots.
Asked directly about whether the man was an air force pilot, as
claimed, spokesman Air Commodore Dele Alonge told AFP:
"The man shown in the Boko Haram video is not our officer.The picture
of a man beheaded in the video is superimposed," he said without
elaborating. "Our plane is still missing and we are looking for it.
Boko Haram is just making unfounded claims.
"
A military source also told the Nation.
"Experts are doing forensic analysis of Boko Haram to ascertain
whether it was a make-believe or there were really encounters between
the pilots and the insurgents.
"The alleged claim of beheading of the pilot was part of the video
clip purportedly released by Boko Haram on Thursday.
"We are in receipt of the 'gory' clip. We are studying every bit of it
in line with military ethics. Do not forget that there might also be
an element of propaganda on the part of the insurgents. The video clip
has a tint of psychological warfare, but the military is undaunted.The
report on the last minutes of the pilots indicated that they had
completed their assignment.
"They had their last successful assignment in seized areas in Adamawa
State. Something was wrong while returning to base. This is what we
are looking at.So, they had a successful outing on that day. This is
why the military had considered the likelihood of the jet being shot
by Boko Haram as 'remote.'These pilots were among the best in the Air
Force; they were always willing to go to the war front even when
others were a bit sceptical of the weather or mode of operation. They
were thorns in the flesh of the insurgents and they accounted for many
successful air strikes we have recorded.
"We have retrieved communication data to know whether the plane got
missing because of mechanical challenge or otherwise.
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