How Air Force plane bombed my convoy, by Ndume

The Senator representing Borno South, Mohammed Ali Ndume, relived yesterday how his convoy was allegedly bombed by an Air Force plane in Borno State.

Ndume, who chairs the Senate Committee on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), spoke in Abuja.

He said four bombs were dropped by the Air Force fighter jet.

The senator said the incident occurred when he was going to mediate between warring Christians and Muslims in Gwoshe, following the death of seven people in a clash.

He said the clash was triggered by a church that was burnt by Boko Haram.

Ndume said Christians thought that the church was burnt by Muslims and retaliated by burning a mosque.

He said a deadly clash between the two groups followed, leading to the death of seven people.

“I had a second assignment, which was to deliver a letter of upgrade to an emir. I stopped at a garage in Pulka to wait for the contingent of a member of the House of Representatives from the area so we can go together.

“I decided to move a bit further because there were so many people there eager to see me.”

Though he described the incident as an “operational blunder”, the lawmaker said he was taken aback by a report in a national newspaper where the Air Force allegedly claimed that its aircraft did not bomb his convoy.

The lawmaker said his wife, children and well-wishers thought that he had been killed.

He said it was unfortunate that the Air Force authorities claimed the incident never happened.

“If I had died, they would have cooked up stories and probably say that I was killed while meeting with Boko Haram insurgents.

“Initially, I thought it was Boko Haram that planted the bombs on the Highway, targeting me because there were people waving at us by the roadside.

“We thought the boys were the ones detonating the bombs until a military personnel in our convoy told us that the bombs were coming from the Air Force aircraft. We then ran.

“The statement credited to the Air Force spokesman was unfortunate. Immediately the incident happened nobody could reach me on phone.

“There was panic in Maiduguri and Borno but the Pulka people were able to communicate with them.

“So many people, including my wife, thought I was dead. The attack was to me, a professional blunder.

“I am surprised that some people will allege that I will lie about what happened. My case was not the first in a series of professional blunders committed by the military in the fight against insurgency.

“I thank God the incident happened in Pulka and there were witnesses. They saw the aircraft, unless they are trying to tell us that it is not a Nigerian Air Force aircraft.

“Four bombs were dropped by the fighter jet, we picked the four shells. I have one in my house in Maiduguri; I only didn’t bring it because I came by air.

“The people of Pulka collected the remaining three shells and pleaded with me that they want to keep it for record purposes. So where did I get the shells?

“I showed it to reporters in Maiduguri; so, how can somebody say nothing happened? Except they are telling us that a foreign fighter jet came into Nigerian air space and dropped four bombs on the convoy of a Nigerian senator.”

But the Air Force said its fighter jet did not shoot Ndume’s motorcade.

The Force made its position known in a statement in Abuja by the Director of Air Force Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Yusuf Anas.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Nigerian Air Force aircraft did not target Senator Ndume’s convoy as alleged.”