'We didn't kill Chibok girls,' NAF

NAF Chief said the sect aimed at discrediting the NAF with the "make-up story" video, adding that the group also wanted to whip up public sentiments for itself.

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has, with a video proof, dismissed the allegations by Boko Haram that NAF fighter jets killed the abducted Chibok girls.

In a nearly five minutes video, the air force gave an aerial view of its operations in the northeast, stating that its equipment are sophisticated enough to pin-point insurgents before engaging.

The terror group had made the claims in a recent video, purportedly showing fighter jets killing some of the kidnapped girls.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, August 16, and signed by Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa, NAF Director of Public Relations, the Air Force said the video provided no evidence that the supposed casualty was a result of air to ground attack.

He said the sect aimed at discrediting the NAF with the "make-up story" video, adding that the group also wanted to whip up public sentiments for itself.

Famuyiwa said: “It is pertinent to state that the video is not only a ruse but another mischievous effort by the dying sect to draw public attention to itself. Whereas the video showed a cross section of the abducted girls and an airborne aircraft, it provided no evidence that the supposed casualties were as a result of any air to ground attack.

“More so, there is sufficient evidence to believe that the casualties were arranged as the positioning of the bodies clearly defies any natural setting of a location that has undergone aerial bombardment. Besides, the impact and accompanying degree of damage to the bodies would have been more, were they to have died from air strike.

“It is therefore clear that the video is a make-up story to discredit the NAF, and more importantly, a deliberate effort to weep up sentiment among the public in order to dissuade and discontinue the use of airpower which has proved very effective as the major determinant factor in the successes recorded in the ongoing counter insurgency operations in the North East,” he said.

Famuyiwa stressed that the NAF has put-in place a number of measures to avoid the incidence of collateral damage.

Towards the end of the video, the air force gave a clear view of how it also monitors militants in the south-south and operates professionally within its rules of engagement.