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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