Alleged Bombing: Ndume Accuses Air Force Of Lying

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Insists his convoy was bombed BEVERLY HILLS, CA, January 15, (THEWILL) -  Senator Ali Ndume on Wednesday accused the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) of lying when it denied that one of its fighter jet mistakenly shot at him when he was visiting his troubled constituents on Sunday.

He also declared that he stands by his earlier statement that his convoy was bombed by the fighter jet belonging to the Nigeria Air Force in Maiduguri .

Senator Ndume, who is still embroiled in a legal battle with the Federal Government over alleged complicity in the Boko Haram saga, last Sunday escaped death when a NAF jet fired explosives at him, mistaking  his convoy for those of the militants.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Air Force claimed that the report was false and that there was no iota of truth in the lawmaker's story But an infuriated Ndume responded by telling journalists in Abuja that the NAF was completely telling lies with such assertion.

According to him, "It is very unfortunate, really very unfortunate.

I, Ndume will not say an aircraft hit me if it did not.

I will not say that and for the Air Force people to come out and make statement like this is very unfortunate.

" He added: "Besides, today with modern communication, immediately that incident happened, I was the one driving, so I couldn't use my phone, people tried to reach me on the phone, It's either I couldn't pick up the phone or it was not going through, so there was a lot of panic in Maiduguri and other areas until the people of Pulka were able to communicate.

"Some people were thinking I was dead, particularly my wife and children were really traumatised, but eventually they made contacts with my  aides  who  gave me the phone and I told them I was okay.

It was just that.
I look at it as an operational blunder, I took it like that, I didn't know that today somebody will come to the newspapers and start denying.

But I as a senator of the Federal Republic will come and lie that I was shot when nothing like that happened .

"What I said in my statement  was that this mistake can be very costly and therefore there should be deliberate act to correct such abnormality or blunders, because   if they had hit me and I am dead by now, it means that this people can come and lie and say all sorts of things that are not true, its very unfortunate, government or agency of government should be able to stand on truth and say the truth.

"Let me say clearly, I know the working relationship between the army, police, air force, SSS  as they address this issue of insurgents, because it is new to us and not well coordinated, I can say there was no effective coordination.

Supposing there was no detachment of Army or Police with me, that does not mean a convoy on a federal highway should be bombed and now the Air-force is saying nothing happened.

They are lying, I can say that.
The person who said that is a liar not me, because it actually happened.

  So  you just don't go and hit a car on the highway.

" On whether the bombing was linked to earlier threats on his life.

He explained: "I think it was an operational blunder and they should try and correct it .

I am not linking the threat to what happened, because I am a strong believer, because in the fight against the insurgents, there are criminals cashing in on it, politicians and the real insurgents, some of these things can happen, I can't say I am a target or not.

"It was four bombs that was dropped and we picked all of them, the shells, I have one in my house in Maiduguri.

I didn't bring it to Abuja because I came by air and don't want them to say I carried bomb again, the bomb is there in my house and the people of Pulka picked it and said they want it as a souvenir, that is what happened.

" BY EMMA UCHE, ABUJA