By Ayo Kehinde
Flight Lieutenants John Abolarinwa and Ebiakpo Chapele were the two pilots on its Alpha Jet aircraft (NAF475) that went missing during operation against Boko Haram in Borno State last Wednesday, the Nigeria Air Force has said.
The names of the pilots were released by Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, Director of Public Relations and Information of Air Force in a statement in Abuja on Friday morning.
He said; “The cause of the crash as well as the whereabouts of the 2 pilots remains unknown. The pilots are Flight Lieutenant John Abolarinwa and Flight Lieutenant Ebiakpo Chapele.
“Extensive search and rescue efforts are still ongoing by NAF surveillance aircraft as well as NAF Special Forces and Nigerian Army troops on ground.
“At this point, the NAF is not ruling out anything regarding the incident. It however remains hopeful that the crew would soon be found and rescued”, he said.
He said the missing jet has not been found and extensive search for the jet believed to have crashed is still going on.