OUR ORDEAL IN SAMBISA FOREST- FIGHTER PILOTS

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     The fight against insurgency is rounding up at a very fast pace, people of the northeast part of the country are re-grouping with families, citizens are safe and, properties protected. we cant count how brave and hardworking the Nigeria Armed Forces have put in place. The Armed Forces must really be appreciated and rewarded handsomely for this bravery they portray.

     The Airforce significantly are the backbones for the capturing of Sambisa forest, their duties do not specifically include the power to engage the enemy but to guide the troops to safety in engaging the enemy . He stated, “In Sambisa, we find the enemy’s location and direct the ground troops there and also the fighter jets. These few versatile fighter pilots of the Nigerian airforce tells about ordeal of their surveilance and assist in capturing sambisa forest:
*   Flight Lieutenant (Captain) Sam Haastrup, the man with the Alpha Jet. Haastrup has an enviable military background. He attended military schools, obtained a degree in Chemistry from the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) and a Masters’ degree in Environmental Chemistry. He went to the United States (U.S.) to train as a fighter pilot and returned in 2012. Since 2013, he has been in the Northeast.
     Flight Lieutenant (Captain) Sam Haastrup is regarded as the man with a nine lives, he has been shot upon several times but you just cant take him out. has been in the thick of the fight against Boko Haram, conducting several air interdictions against the insurgents. He has had many close shaves, shot at many times, despite his many close shaves, Haastrup views the insurgents as “a group of nuisance requiring unnecessary attention.” Anytime he goes on his plane, he “feels normal” as he goes on a mission of life and death.
*   Flying Officers (Lieutenants) Ahmed Safianu Saley and Emmanuel Balogun. these are the flight pilot ncharge of the ATR 42-500 aircraft, the ears and eyes of the military ground soldiers. Their job is to conduct one of the most important duties of any battle: Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR).  
     Flying Officers (Lieutenants) Ahmed Safianu Saley added what he specialise on, “We are like the eyes. I have seen quite a lot of things in Sambisa and most of them are classified. I can tell you we see our ground troops and we give them the accurate location of the enemy. So, they will not be caught unawares. Some of the challenges in ISR are trying to differentiate the good guys from the bad ones. So, we have to be very careful; we are not a ragtag troop. We are well-trained. You have to think and sieve the information".
     As masters of their games, its what they have dedicated their lives upon doing. Flying Officers (Lieutenants) Ahmed Safianu Saley under gone several courses in Holland and the Czech republic. this great brave minds need to be praised and prayed for. they are the men in the front line.
*   Flying Officer Ibrahim Goni. You will mistake him for a school boy. Goni has yet to pack all of his 26 years into his face, he looks like that of a high school football captain than a fighter pilot. Under this deceitful looks he is a brave heart.
     Goni graduated four years ago with a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, he was sent to the U.S. to train as a fighter pilot by the NAF. oweing to the fact he comes from the Northeast he's got great determination in puting smile back in the eyes of his people. He has flown to Sambisa against Boko Haram on many occasions, seeing many ‘unspeakable things’ which remain highly classified. Shortly before the fall of Sambisa, Goni was one of the NAF pilots who took part in Air Interdictions and close air support missions.
      He stated, “Because of the rules of engagement and the human rights laws, that day in Camp Zairo, we saw a couple of women and children moving around. But we had to make contact with the ISR guys up there to confirm that these guys are the bad guys before we engage them. “We had good clearance that they were the bad guys. The clearance was to ensure that we don’t hit children and women because it is against the rules. We went for the bad guys not the children,” he said.
*   Squadron Leader Olusola Adeniyi a Squadron Leader (Major): A pilot making history because he was the first pilot to land in Sambisa after it fell to government troops in December, last year. He said: “Landing in Sambisa Forest shortly after the fall of Camp Zairo would linger for a very long time in my memory. It was an infamous place where all I could do for a very long time was to fly over. Eventually, I got the opportunity to land there. I took a senior military officer into Sambisa Forest where he met with the troops and addressed them and appreciated them for the work. I felt very proud to fly the first helicopter to land in that area and the personality that I took there,” Adeniyi said.
     Being the first to land in Sambisa Forest after the takeover by the military, Adeniyi was in a vintage position to observe first hand, how Boko Haram operated from its enclave. But he would not disclose many of the things he saw. He admitted the sight wasn’t pretty. “When we landed, the sight there wasn’t the best – mostly deserted; the small communities around that area had been ravaged and burnt. The after-effect of what the insurgency had done to Nigeria and particularly the Northeast, to me in particular, is very painful, but I am glad about the progress we have made and that people can return to their homes. Hopefully, normalcy will return to those areas,” he said,  We always will pray for Nigeria in this time of terror as we fight and defeat insurgency. Nigeria is great, we must set our goals right.