THE Nigerian Air Force has apologised for sharing old pictures as a recent victory in its ongoing fight against terror in the Northeastern part of the country.
On Monday, the Airforce came under criticism after it shared on its official Twitter page old images of its ‘onslaught against Boko Haram terrorists’ in Marte, Borno State.
(2/2) @CAS_AMSadique, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, while commending the gallantry & professionalism of the ATF, urged them to sustain the onslaught on the criminals, in synergy with sister Services & other security agencies, in order to rid the Nation of all terrorist elements pic.twitter.com/9tz5LMup3S
— Nigerian Air Force (@NigAirForce) January 18, 2021
But in a statement on Wednesday, the Airforce admitted that it was a mistake by the Operation Lafiya Dole (OPLD) Theatre.
While expressing it regrets over the action, it noted that the error does not underscore the ongoing successes being achieved by its men against terror in the region.
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“Our attention has been drawn to the inclusion of some erroneous pictures amongst those posted earlier on the terrorists’ gun trucks & other vehicles destroyed by the Air Task Force of Operation LAFIYA DOLE (ATF OPLD) at Marte on 15/16 January 2021,” it said.
“On further investigation, it has been discovered that the pictures sent from the OPLD Theatre inadvertently included a few pictures from other encounters with terrorist elements. The error is highly regretted.
“The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) wishes to state that the inclusion of the pictures was not deliberate & does not take anything away from the huge success of the air operation that dealt a decisive blow on the terrorists as shown in the widely circulated video.
“Most of the pictures earlier circulated were indeed from the recent successful airstrikes at Marte. The few erroneous pictures have now been expunged & all pictures here are those from the “Battle of Marte”. Thank you for your understanding and continued support for the NAF.”
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