Dogo Gide and his associates have claimed responsibility for shooting down a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) helicopter near Chukuba Ward in Niger State’s Shiroro Local Government Area.
Dogo Gide and his associates have claimed responsibility for shooting down a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) helicopter near Chukuba Ward in Niger State’s Shiroro Local Government Area.
When the incident occurred at around 1:00 p.m. on Monday, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft took off from Kaduna en route Minna, the Niger state capital.
The NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Edward Gabkwet, stated in a statement on Monday that the aircraft was on a casualty evacuation mission when it crashed.
He stated that the plane took off from Zungeru Primary School on route to Kaduna but crashed near Chukuba Village in Niger state.
Gide and his organization, however, claimed credit for the tragedy in a viral video apparently captured at the site of Monday’s Air Force plane crash.
The attackers claimed to have murdered dozens of soldiers on the jet in the less-than-three-minute video.
Terrorists brandishing AK-47s were seen in the video. The aircraft was designated as NAF 582.
The narrator said: “These are bodies belonging to soldiers of the Nigerian Army who attacked us with the intention of causing us harm.
“They did this to see the downfall of Dogo Gide and by God’s grace, he is still alive and won’t die.
“These are dozens of soldiers, as you can see them. This is their airplane. Repent, we have no business with anyone except those who try to come for us. This is God’s work. We used an AK-47 to bring down this plane.
Take a look at them. Let this be a lesson. You all should repent. It is not our intention to kill, but for everyone to be enlightened and have the fear of God. Leaders who sent these soldiers our way to be killed by us should repent.
“We won’t surrender from pressure or even an aeroplane. Dogo Gide, who is their target, won’t die now. He is still alive. These are the AK-47s we used to bring down this plane.
“We opened fire when we sighted them and they did the same. Repent and fear God. We pray for God’s mercy at all times. This is God’s work and not ours as you can see.”
A resident, Simon Bulus, told The Nation: “The Dogo Gide terrorist group operates in the forest.”
“When we heard continuous gunshots, we took to our heels. But we saw shots being fired at the helicopter,” a resident, Haruna Ibrahim, said.
