By Rafiu Ajakaye
LAGOS
A Nigerian fighter aircraft has gone missing in the restive northeastern Adamawa state with authorities unable to contact it for the past two days.
"An Alpha Jet (NAF 466) belonging to the Nigerian Air Force is missing around Adamawa state," defense spokesman Chris Olukolade said in a statement on Sunday.
"The aircraft, with two pilots onboard, left Yola at about 10:45am on 12 September on a routine operational mission and was expected back by 12:00 noon," he noted.
"Since then all efforts to establish contact with the aircraft have not yielded any positive," said the military spokesman.
He added that search and rescue efforts are ongoing to establish contact with the crew.
It is the second time in about three months that a military aircraft has gone off the radar.
The last missing aircraft had crashed, killing one of the pilots on board.
Two persons survived the crash which had occurred in the restive northeastern Borno State.
Olukolade said at the time that the crash wasn't due to "enemy fire," apparently ruling out suggestion that the aircraft might have been brought down by the Boko Haram militants who are believed to have antiaircraft missiles.
No such comment was included in Sunday's statement on the latest incident.
Military sources, however, suggest that up to four fighter jets had been downed by Boko Haram.
Boko Haram militants have in recent weeks overrun the towns of Dikwa, Gamboru Ngala and Gwoza – all in Borno State. They also currently control the towns of Buni Yadi and Bara in neighboring Yobe State.
The group is also said to have captured eight towns in Adamawa State, which has a population of some 2.5 million.
Boko Haram's elusive leader, Abubakar Shekau, recently declared all territories under the group's control to be part of an "Islamic caliphate" in northern Nigeria.
Since May of last year, all three states – Borno, Yobe and Adamawa – have remained under a state of emergency imposed by the government with the stated aim of curbing the menace posed by Boko Haram.
Nigeria is fighting a five-year-old Boko Haram insurgency with thousands already killed or maimed, places of worship destroyed and lives shattered.
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