Olaleye Aluko, AbujaThe Nigerian Air Force has said that the Mi-17 helicopter, which crashed during an operation in the North-East, was not shot down by Boko Haram terrorists as insinuated by Abubakar Shekau, a factional leader of the deadly group, in a new video. Although no life was lost during the incident, the Air Force noted that the helicopter suffered a “significant damage.”The Air Force had said that the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, directed the constitution of a board of inquiry to determine the cause of the incident. Boko Haram insurgents, had on Monday, released a video, claiming that they were responsible for the crashed helicopter. The military have come to us, but it did not end well; that is why your helicopter went down; that is why your armoured tanks got destroyed.”But reacting to the claim by the insurgents, NAF Spokesperson, Adesanya, said, “The Boko Haram did not shoot down the NAF’s Mi-17 helicopter. This is why we issued a statement immediately after the crash landing of the helicopter, which was on a routine mission in the North-East.

Source: Punch January 20, 2018 00:11 UTC