Following the shooting down of Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Alpha jet Nigerians have called on the Federal Government to proscribe bandits as a terrorist group.
It had been reported that NAF after denying that the jet was shot down, confirmed on Monday that bandits committed the crime.
NAF Director of Information, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, in a statement on Monday, said the fighter jet was returning from a successful air interdiction mission between the boundaries of Zamfara and Kaduna States when it came under heavy fire from bandits and crashed in Zamfara.
Gabwet said Dairo successfully ejected from the aircraft, using his survival instincts.
Reacting, some Nigerians asked the government to proscribe the bandits as terrorists.
Here are some comments curated from Twitter.
@Eugunihocortez, “Bandits shooting down fighter jets? Bandits is too strong a word sef. Let’s be calling them “miscreants”
@adachi176, “It is a disgrace to states bandits shut down a whole country fighter jet. Bandits; Buhari Fulani government (FG) knows who is attacking Nigeria, he called them bandits to avoid international attention. It’s a shame! Buhari just step down, the woo brought upon Nigeria is enough!”
@Nomwengho, “They Now Shoot Down Jets And You People Still Address Them As Bandits. What Exactly Do They Have To Do To Earn The “Terrorists” Tag?”
@egwutalum, “The Nigerian military has become politicians that always deny the fact and obvious, only to accept when the evidence overwhelms them. This needs to stop.”
@officialfrank, “These are just business people just looking for what to eat. IPOB that doesn’t have such firepower was declared a terrorist group with the sound of a jet yet those who does much more evil are called business people. Until all airline both local and international start avoiding Northern airport.”
@Zellencykelly, “Nigeria should just try to avoid any altercation with any country that may lead to WAR because any country that releases it’s military on Nigeria will sink us in just a couple of hours. Buhari and the APC have exposed our country.”
@humphramania, “So going by what NBC said last week, incidences like this shouldn’t be reported right? To what end anyways. Are they trying to cover up the many weaknesses of this Govt. That won’t be necessary, we already know the Govt either lacks capacity or are unwilling to fight bandits.”
@thesawgee, “This is the second jet they’re dropping out of the sky and they’re still being referred to as “bandits.”
@oga_pharmacist, “Sounds like something from a Hollywood movie set in Afghanistan. Na wa o. Where exactly are bandits positioning and shooting severally on an aircraft without being taken out by the army?”
@Drolufunmilayo, ”Many people don’t know yet the serious real implication of “bandits” who have the capacity to target and shoot down the fighter jet of a country’s airforce. If they can easily shoot down fighter jets, commercial jets will be nothing to them. I pray we never get to that point.”
