Chibok Schoolgirls: Why we can’t deploy Nigerian-made drone, Air force says

Mr. Anas said the main drone has not been built.

The Nigerian Air Force on Tuesday gave reasons why a Nigerian-made drone cannot be deployed to help in the rescue operation of about 250 girls kidnapped from Chibok..

The Director of Public Relations and Information, Yusuf Anas, in a statement said that the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, UAV, unveiled by President Goodluck Jonathan on December 17, 2013 at the Air Force Base Kaduna was only a prototype.

Mr. Anas, an Air Commodore, said the main drone has not been built.

A UAV or drone is an aircraft that is either controlled by pilots from the ground or controlled following a pre-programmed mission.

He said another reason the UAV, nicknamed ‘GULMA,’ was yet to be deployed was because the operators are still undergoing trainings.

He also noted that that its full scale production is process.

While reacting to a report that the rescue operation of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls was blown because NAF’s drone was not used, Mr. Anas said that after several years of research and development efforts, the service was able to produce the first drone.

It was this effort that was showcased to the public as a prototype by Mr. Jonathan.

Several foreign countries are currently assisting Nigeria in the search for the girls who were kidnapped from their dormitory in the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State on April 14 by the Boko Haram.

Since the abduction of the girls, the Nigerian military have been criticised for its inability to rescue them.

On Monday, the Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, said the Nigerian military has located the girls but is unwilling to use force to rescue them from their abductors.

Mr. Badeh said the fight against insurgency was quite different from full scale war, adding that “if we are fighting an external war, they would have been begging us to withdraw”.