There are fears that the officers on board the ill-fated NAF aircraft may have been killed in the crash.
By Eugene Onyeji
Another tragedy may have befallen the Nigerian military that has been waging an asymmetric war against terrorists in the North for over one decade now as a military aircraft belonging to the Nigerian Airforce (NAF), crashed in Kaduna State on Tuesday with some officers said to be on board.
There are fears that the officers on board the ill-fated NAF aircraft may have been killed in the crash.
Details of what led to the crash and who were on board are not yet known. It is not also known how many people were aboard the aircraft and where they were travelling to.
Recall that 11 months ago, Ibrahim Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff, and 10 other senior military officers died in a NAF’s Beechcraft 350, which crashed around the Kaduna International Airport.
In fact, between August 29, 2015 and 2021, Nigeria suffered 11 military plane crashes with no fewer than 33 military officers perishing.
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These include the Air Force plane crash, which killed seven onboard (August 29, 2015) in Kaduna; the F-7NI jet on October 10, 2015, and the Augusta Westland which crashed in Makurdi on November 15.
In 2021 alone, the Air Force lost at least three jets. They were the Beechcraft KingAir350i which went down with all seven officers on board in Abuja on March 21, 2021; the Alpha Jet which crashed while supporting troops in the North-East on April 3, 2021, and now the biggest of them all – the crash of a military jet conveying Nigeria’s 25th Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru and 10 other officers on board at the Kaduna Airport.
General Attahiru assumed the post on January 26, 2021.
He was said to be on his way to Kaduna to attend a passing-out parade for army recruits.
Following the incident, members of the minority caucus in the house of representatives had asked the federal government to ensure that a “system-wide investigation” is conducted into such incidents involving military aircraft in the country.
