Saturday, May 10, 2014

Special forces proves NASRDA DG wrong, tracks high-value Boko Haram member

Barely 24 hours after claims by the Director-General of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Prof. Seidu Mohammed, on the inability of satellite technology to really aid the search and rescue mission of the abducted over 200 Chibok school girls, a glint of light has shown that they are still being kept at the notorious Sambisa forest in Borno State, DigitalSENSE Business News reveals.

News reaching our DigitalSENSE Business News indicated that the Special Forces led by the United States Marines have located these girls in Sambisa Forest, using satellites and what some industry observers tagged as advanced tracking equipment.

This is against earlier reports that most of the abducted school girls were being sold into earlier marriages into neighboring countries for $12, about N1,900 only.

DigitalSENSE Business News gathered that aside locating the girls in Sambisa forest, a combined team of the Marines and Nigerian forces arrested a leader of the terrorist group who reportedly aided in the abduction of Chibok girls.

According sources close to the joint special forces the Boko Haram leader arrest was facilitated through an advanced interceptor equipment used to track him during his exchange of “information with his colleagues in Sambisa Forest” on the movements of Special Forces in Maiduguri and its environ.

He has since been handed over to the Nigerian security forces for further interrogation.

DigitalSENSE Business News, notes that Prof. Seidu Mohammed at the weekend, put up a defense for his failed NASRDA, proclaimed that satellite images from the Nigeria SatX and Sat 2 could not trace the over 200 girls reportedly in the custody of Boko Haram.

The DG had told newsmen on Friday in Abuja that while many Nigerians expect the satellite to trace the girls, “the country’s satellites only possessed 2.5 meters resolution, not sufficient to do such tracking.”

He further said that even countries with advanced satellites that have three meters resolutions find it difficult to trace terrorists, but only help in providing useful information on the possible locations of the hidden terrorists.

Mohammed who denied insinuations that Nigeria Sat X and Sat 2 may be faulty, said they are working perfectly and lamented that the two satellites jointly have 2.5 meter resolutions, meaning that they don’t have the capacity to trace individuals movement but only give maps of some locations at some particular times.

"People thought satellites are video cameras. They are not. Satellite moves from one location to another and some times before they come back to a particular spot it takes up to four days. An earth observation satellite is not a video machine that can capture people anywhere therefore cannot track a migrant militants who are moving every 15 minutes or so," he said.

He maintained that is why America with hundreds of active satellite could not just track Taliban and other militants, “but that is not to say it has no relevant, it has in updating maps to know how many routes are available for terrorist to escape.”


Mohammed said the agency is working with relevant authorities in giving useful information available in the efforts to rescue the abducted schools girls.

*Correspondent with additional report by Vanguard
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