₦airaland Forum

An undated photo released by friends of
Wing Commander Chima Hedima in an
unidentified aircraft (left) and a screen
grab from a Boko Haram video.
Friends and colleagues of Wing Commander
Chimda Hedima, who was reportedly beheaded
by Boko Haram, have given a vivid account of
how the Air Force pilot spent his last days.
Hedima, who was showered with praises by
thousands of Nigerians on Saturday, reportedly
kept a dignified composure in the face of death.
Before reporting the beheading of Hedima,
French news agency, Agence France-Presse ,
had reported that it was in possession of a
Boko Haram video that showed that Abubakar
Shekau, a leader of the sect, was still alive.
This came a few days after the military’s
Director of Information, Maj.-Gen. Chris
Olukolade, said Shekau had been killed early
September in Kodunga, Borno State.
The military had also shown photographs that
it claimed showed the corpse of Shekau.
But Shekau, in the video, described as
propaganda the claim by the Defence
Headquarters that he had been killed. While
claiming responsibility for shooting down an Air
Force jet, the video also showed the beheading
of the pilot.
Hedima’s colleagues on different social media
on Saturday said Hedima, who was born in
1975, crashed the aircraft into an area where
Boko Haram militants were and killed at least
63 of the insurgents.
On the Facebook page of the Nigerian Army
Support Group, his friends wrote, “It is with
deep regret that we announce the death of a
true Nigerian hero, Wing Commander Chimda
Hedima. This man was a hero of the highest
order.
“On September 11, 2014, a company of
Nigerian Army soldiers attempted to overrun a
Boko Haram position in Borno. Due to the low
altitude, the plane suffered significant damage
from the terrorists’ gunfire.
“Wing Commander Hedima and his partner
realised that they were going to crash.
“They, instead of hurriedly parachuting to
safety within Nigerian controlled territory, chose
to embark on a mission to destroy as many
terrorists and their weapons as possible. They
parachuted out at the last minute but not
before ensuring that their plane slammed into a
column of terrorists in which 63 Boko Haram
members were killed as a result of their bravery.
“Wing Commander Hedima was captured. On
September 12, he was killed.
“He chose Nigeria, he chose all of us. We
cannot forget him. Please share his story. His
name should be known by everyone.
“Rest in peace Commander, we are grateful.
May you find eternal peace.”
While the military on Saturday said it was still
studying the video and would talk at the
appropriate time, Nigerians and family
members have continued to pay tributes to
Hedima.
His brother, Parry Hedima, wrote on his
Facebook page that Hedima’s shoes were too
big to fill.
He said, “There is a big shoe to fill. Lord I need
your feet.”
One of the late pilot’s friends, Musa Salmanu,
also described Hedima as a hero.
“Not knowing where to start, I will start from the
end. The last time we met was some weeks
back in Yola. As always, you were full of life,
humility and relaxed as if you didn’t feel the
weight of the responsibility placed by destiny
on your young shoulders. The country expected
much from you. In fact, the survival of the
country depended on your bravery and
courage. What a responsibility for such a
young soul to bear. You didn’t disappoint, you
delivered.
“Together, with your team, you played your
part. You played it well.
“We are proud of you. To the team, I say we
must carry on as our oga has done his bit. He
died a hero, knowing that he died for his
country. A soldier. He remained true to his
calling till the last breath.
“To Boko Haram terrorists, we are saddened
and sickened by your madness as it has no
place in any civilised society. Your days are
numbered. We are determined more than ever
to treat you as the cancer that you are. Rest in
peace my oga, friend, colleague and brother,”
he said.
Another Nigerian, Aliyu Mohammed Tsadu, who
referred to Hedima as a brother, said the
murdered pilot’s bravery was second to none.
According to him, Hedima is a national hero.
He said, “C. S Hedima, where do I start? You
were a brother, a friend and we belong to the
same ‘Ex-jam’ family. Your bravery even at the
point of your death was second to none. May
God almighty receive your soul and give your
family the fortitude to bear this loss. You died a
hero and a gallant soldier. Rest on, brother.”
For Hadiza Sunama-Pindar, Hedima’s bravery
will never be in vain. She said, “Hedima my
brother and kinsman, may your bravery never
be in vain and may the sacrifice of your life
soon bring to an end to the reign of terror that
has bedevilled our homestead. Rest well my
brother and our hero. Good night as you sleep.”
Other Nigerians called on the Federal
Government to immortalise Edema while also
ensuring that an end is brought to the Boko
Haram menace.
One of them, Zubby Okonkwo wrote, “Your
sacrifice for this nation will not be forgotten in a
hurry. Even if the present crop of leadership
fails to recognise you, the Nigerian masses do.
Our hearts go to your loved ones you left
behind and may God comfort them. You
participated in the struggle to eradicate our
land from these brigands of evil. “
Similarly, Christy Iyefu on urged the military to
give the slain pilot a befitting burial. “Rest in
peace; may God grant your family the fortitude
to bear your loss. Salute to a gallant hero. I
pray the officers would give you and other fallen
comrades a befitting funeral.
“You need to rest in a military cemetery with
your name on it. Your epitaph should read, ‘He
took 68 enemies with him!’So you’re never
forgotten,” she said.
Similarly, Oguru Samuel who commented on the
death of the soldier said Hedima was an
irreplaceable icon who gave a new meaning to
bravery while Obinna Nwachukwu, urged the
Federal Government to give Hedima a post-
humous award .
Nwachukwu said, “As we mourn this hero who
lost his precious life trying to defend the
oneness of our country, I suggest that a post-
humous award should be given to him.
Government should employ his next of kin and
above all, a block at any Air force college
around the country should be named after
him.”
Adding her voice to the tributes, another
Nigerian, Pamela Ogbui posted on the
Facebook page, “A gallant soldier you were; a
great patriot never to be forgotten. We will
forever be proud of you.”
“My respect to this legend; we will never forget
you. You were a soldier’s soldier. You knew
you were going to suffer a brutal death but you
never flinched and you spoke with those
cowards like a man. I hope Nigerians will learn
from you. You are my mentor. Adieu great one,”
another Facebook user, Chieff Henryabah said.
When one of our correspondents contacted
Olukolade on Saturday for his comment on the
identified slain pilot and his missing co-pilot,
Olukolade said the military had no comment to
make.
“The military would speak on the issue at the
appropriate time,” he said.
Olukolade had told SUNDAY PUNCH on
Friday that the military would soon end all
activities of Boko Haram.
“We believe we will terminate their activities
very soon. By the time they see some
devastation around them, all these boastings
will stop, and that will come very soon,” he
said.
A highly-placed security source, who confided
in one of our correspondents on Friday also
said the military believed the Shekau in the
latest video was not the one that was killed.
Pleading anonymity, the source said once the
military was done with studying the videos, it
would go after the man claiming to be Shekau.
He said, “Studying the videos is part of the
manhunt for the man claiming to be Shekau.
The military authorities believe that Shekau has
been killed and we will get the person claiming
to be him (Shekau.)”
Also, the police said they were working with the
military and other security agencies to frustrate
every planned attack by Boko Haram
insurgents within the country.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel
Ojukwu said, “We are aware of the devices of
the insurgents and we have evolved measures
to combat them. Working with the military, the
Police are doing everything necessary to make
sure every part of this country is secure.”

http://www.punchng.com/news/how-beheaded-air-force-pilot-killed-63-terrorists/

RIP

What is taking D military so Long to give Kudos to one of its Own.


Well we D Masses Congratulate on dis great feat

Anyway he tried Sha if true

A true national hero you are. You died so Nigerians like me can be safe;that's a big sacrifice we can't overlook. I'd always remember you as "the one who died for Nigeria". RIP brother. Your name would be forever written in the sands of time.

R.i.p Hedima. Incase this gets to front page, I was here.

Shekau has already turned a title,just like Sultan,Shehu or Emir.It no longer matter whether the military killed Abubakar or Ibrahim,the main thing is Shekau will continue to live so far as Boko Haram still waxes strong.
Degrade/destroy Boko Haram n Shekau will die,it's as simple as that.Not rocket science

RIP

Another lie.

63 kọ, one million ni.

and here is a true hero.RIP

What a real hero. Many countries would have named a city after this man a long time ago!

The beheaded pilot was very very handsome, RIP true hero

unuane1:
“Wing Commander Hedima and his partner
realised that they were going to crash.
“They, instead of hurriedly parachuting to
safety within Nigerian controlled territory, chose
to embark on a mission to destroy as many
terrorists and their weapons as possible. They
parachuted out at the last minute but not
before ensuring that their plane slammed into a
column of terrorists in which 63 Boko Haram
members were killed as a result of their bravery.

Moronic Bullshyt Story.

Typical moronic African attempt to make heroes out of the dead with fairytales.

May his soul rest in Peace. Thank him for helping us to reduce those evil men

Keep on resting in peace soldier

Nobody will likely ever hear the true story of how this pilot parachuted into enemy hands, but the publicized accounts claiming that the pilot was within sight of federal-held territory, and could have bailed out for a parachute descent towards friendly forces, but instead chose to use his damaged jet as a Kamikaze suicide "missile" against enemy forces, do NOT have the ring of truth.

Without a doubt, if the pilot of a damaged aircraft could see a way to parachute into an area controlled by friendly forces, he would NEVER chose to try and aim his damaged and unstable aircraft at enemy positions, knowing that to do so would mean parachuting into immediate capture and certain death by the butcher's knife.

The most probable sequence of events is that the attacking federal Alpha jet was hit by enemy ground fire at very low altitude, as it swooped in to strafe enemy positions. The pilot had to eject the instant his aircraft became aerodynamically unstable due to bullet damage, and as fate would have it, federal troops could not reach the downed flier before he was captured by terrorist gunmen. That is the most likely way the tragedy unfolded during that pitched battle.

To suggest that a seasoned combat pilot would deliberately fly a gunfire-damaged aircraft over enemy territory to use it as a one-off suicide missile, while ignoring the option to turn back towards territory held by friendly forces before bailing out, is, frankly, an insult to the memory of this particular airman. Pilot survival is THE number one priority when a combat aircraft is damaged by enemy fire, and found to be no longer airworthy enough for a return to base.

If there was even the slightest chance of a selecting a safe landing zone among friendly forces for his parachute drop, this airman would have taken that window of opportunity and tried at all costs to evade enemy troops, knowing that by surviving to fly into combat again, he stood to kill hundreds, if not thousands of enemy combatants over the course of the war - many many more than the kills he could score by flying a damaged plane into the ground towards a platoon-strength group of gunmen.

No sir, Wing Commander Hedima did NOT voluntarily embark on a Kamikaze dive as a considered option, deliberately crashing of his jet into a few dozen enemy fighters on the ground, when he could have turned back to safety for his bail-out. Without a doubt, the flier made the decision to guide his burning Alpha jet towards a cluster of enemy fighters AFTER he concluded that he was too deep in enemy territory, and flying much too close to the ground, to reach safe territory by parachute. His thoughts, at that instant of sober realization that he was moments from certain death, would have been something along the lines of "I may be about to die, but I will take as many of these terrorist gunmen as I can with me. Here goes !" .

What a man. What a warrior. What an epic, jaw dropping tale of gung-ho battle-front killer instinct, against impossible odds. This giant among men, Group Captain Hedima, has duly earned his revered and respected place in the pages of Nigerian history.

Who counted and came up with the figure of 63?

Nigerians like fantasy a lot,cooking up stories,conspiracies and figures to suit their imagination.They den use these to pander to d religious,ethnic and primordial sentiments of d gullible many belivers of such tales out there.
Dat d pilot was captured @all during a combat mission is enough to make him a hero,dat he may av bn butchered makes him doubly so.But for anyone to cook up such fairytales as d op has done here negates all dat.
Its little wonder dat pastor TB despite all d evidence to d contrary still has d guts to publicly insinuate he was d target of his church's building collapse.
Let us strive to use common sense and evidence based info and we wud save ourselves a whole lot of mistrust and doubts of our credibility

I don't understand,hw come he crashed d plane killin 63 ppl yet he didn't die?wich kine lie be dat RIP tho

modhream:
Shekau has already turned a title,just like Sultan,Shehu or Emir.It no longer matter whether the military killed Abubakar or Ibrahim,the main thing is Shekau will continue to live so far as Boko Haram still waxes strong.
Degrade/destroy Boko Haram n Shekau will die,it's as simple as that.Not rocket science

Well for that to happen, for one, your President will have to stop stealing your money and flying it to South Africa (and other countries) because you need money to prosecute this war.

Oh, I forgot, your President also has a hand in a faction of "Boko Haram", pardon me. You can carry on now.

mikeansy:
Who counted and came up with the figure of 63?

. I tot u were d one na...

Group Captain Hedima; you defended your fatherland against territorial aggression of our common enemy and you paid the supreme sacrifice to protect your nation against terrorists.
Your death will not be in vain our gallant officer; may God be with the families and friends you left behind. RIP our departed compatriot.
Kudos to the Nigeria Military.
Nigeria shall have the last laugh against all her enemies.
Death and sorrow to Boko haram and their sponsors.
Long live The Nigerian Military!
Long Live Nigerians!
Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!

This story Na Lie abeg

RIP brave soldier frontpage abeg

mikeansy:
Who counted and came up with the figure of 63?

Abi o!

Moronic junk lies typical of the Nigerian military.

LordMecuzy:
What is taking D military so Long to give Kudos to one of its Own.


Well we D Masses Congratulate on dis great feat

naijaking1:
What a real hero. Many countries would have named a city after this man a long time ago!

tatiana009:
May his soul rest in Peace. Thank him for helping us to reduce those evil men

You are all gullible and not the brightest tool in the box.