Controversial lawmaker, Senator Ali Ndume, narrowly escaped death when his convoy was almost hit by a military airstrike in Borno. The legislator, alleged to have been one of the sponsors of Boko Haram terrorists’ group, was on his way to his hometown when the incident occurred.
Below is the story as reported by Leadership newspaper;
Senator Muhammed Ali Ndume has reportedly escaped death by the whiskers when a military jet fighter allegedly threw four bombs at his convoy as he drove into his country home in Gwoza local government area of Borno State.
But the bombs which had sent the senator’s motorcade skidding off the road, did not claim any life.
Leadership gathered that Senator Ndume was not the only lucky man as the villagers of Pulka who filed out to wave at his motorcade were almost hit by the four bombs thrown at his convoy.
The military, according to Ndume said the bomb attack was an operational blunder, as they did not intend to kill him.
Senator Ndume, who was personally driving his own vehicle when the incident happened, told journalists in Maiduguri that he was on his way to condole with with his people who were attacked by Boko Haram gunmen at a border settlement called Ardoko.
When contacted, the Spokesman of the 7 Division of the Nigeria Army in Maiduguri, Col Muhammed Dole said, “Honestly I am not aware of any attack on Senator Ndume, but I am very much in the know that a military operation by our troops is going on in the Gwoza area, with an air support. I cannot confirm if the Senator was bombed there”.
“I was on my way to Gwoza and had to stop by in Pulka village which is some few kilometres away from Gwoza to attend to some of my people that came to welcome me there. There was a military post there too and I even exchanged pleasantries with the soldiers before proceeding. But as we began to move through Pulka I heard a massive explosion and some others followed. Initially I thought it was the Boko Haram that was attacking us; we even thought it was some people surrendering us from the road side that detonated the bomb.
“When we stopped, one of the army personnel that were escorting me said ‘Oga, the bombs were from the Airforce’, so we had to immediately return to the military post that we left some few yards behind us for a cover.
“At the military base, the soldiers there tried to establish communication with the pilot of the jet but could not. And after some minutes they said that it might be an operational blunder from the Nigerian Airforce”.
Ndume said he was deeply disappointed by the incident as he lamented that “even if it was an operational hitch as they claimed, but how could an Airforce pilot fire four bombs at a moving convoy being escorted by soldiers and police on a federal highway without bothering to check with the ground forces. It was God that saved lives because the bombs landed not far away from where young children were standing by the road side inside the village.
“I thank God for sparing my life; I could have been dead or members of convoy too would have been killed, and when the military say it was a blunder, only their story would have been heard, perhaps there wouldn’t be any other person to speak for me”.
Ndume who insisted the issue must be investigated, said he had immediately sent a message to the chief of army staff, who responded at once expressing concern and apologies. But the chief of air staff who received similar message had not responded to him as at the time he spoke to journalists.
Leadership gathered further from the senator that his convoy was being escorted by seven armed soldiers who were leading ahead, and escorted from behind by the another patrol vehicle conveying five police officers.
He added that the distance between the military post and the spot where the bombs hit the ground behind his convoy was less than 500 meters.
Ndume said he was later told by an army officer at Pulka that the Airforce may have been responding to an alert that some Boko Haram gunmen were attacking a village which was some 30 kilometres away. But the officer who blamed the Airforce for always attacking without checking out their target was clearly told that the Boko Haram gunmen were escaping on foot and not driving a convoy of jeeps led by military detachment.
The senator said that the incident that happened to him should be an eye opener for the army to really look inwards and check its operational lapses lest innocent people should get killed.
Ndume who displayed one of the fragments of the thrown bombs to journalists said, “Let this incident be an opportunity for the army to check the operational blunders of its troops. Though there are fine officers who are doing fantastic jobs, but this should be an eye opener for them to correct themselves and hope it will never occur again”.
On whether he still have confidence in the professionalism of the military in tackling the Boko Haram insurgency, Ndume said, “It is obvious, judging from what happened that the Airforce, the army, the police and the SSS are not really professionally coordinated when it comes to using sophisticated armament like jets in fighting against the insurgents. I was thinking there was supposed to be a communication base in Pulka itself so that when an air strike is initiated a perfect communication would be established between the pilot and the ground troops”.
The 7 Division of the Nigeria Army and the 79 Composite group of the Nigeria Airforce had not issued a statement to the press on what actually went wrong.
