Family members of Lt. Alkali, one of the Air Force pilots who died in a plane crash in Kaduna on Tuesday, said the incident had left them devastated.
TheNiche had exclusively revealed the identity of the two young pilots who died in the crash as Flight Lieutenants Alkali and Karatu, recent graduates of the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA).
The two officers were also amongst the Nigerian Airforce officers who returned from Pakistan in April 2021 following a six-month training in the Southeast Asian country.
A source close to the two officers told TheNiche that as at April last year when he last saw them, they were not married.
Some of the family members of Lt. Alkali who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Wednesday, however, said in spite of the tragedy of losing a great son, they had taken solace in the fact that ‘God giveth, God taketh’.
Alhaji Sulaiman Dauda, an uncle to the deceased, said Alkali was a fine officer, always involved in serving his fatherland.
“Akali is a fine officer, always in the service of his fatherland; a great son to us; we were devastated.
“But we take consolation in the fact that God giveth, God taketh, and fortunately, we belong to a family that lays emphasis on fear of God.
“The kind of life he lived is very encouraging, and we have accepted it (incident) as being ordained by God,” said Dauda, who is a brother to the mother of late Alkali.
Also, Brig-Gen Umar Alkali, elder brother to the deceased, told NAN that although the tragedy was painful, no person on earth would live beyond his or her time, as ordained by God.
“I am the eldest brother to Abubakar: our father died when he was just two years, so he grew up knowing me as a father; its a sad happening, but we all know that death is inevitable,” he said.
He described his late brother as a hard-working, jovial, intelligent and respectful young man.
“You can rely on him for anything, and I think his death is a big loss to the nation,“ Alkali said.
TheNiche reported on Tuesday that a Nigerian Air Force trainer aircraft crashed in Kaduna, claiming the lives of some officers.
Flt-Lt Alkali and his colleague, Flt-Lt Elijah Karatu were the two officers in the aircraft when it crashed and two of them died.
Meanwhile, sympathisers have besieged the Kaduna residence of Malam Sule Dauda, uncle to the deceased, to commiserate with the family.
Late Lt. Alkali was buried on Tuesday in Kaduna at the Kawo cemetery, after funeral prayer was conducted at the Kaduna Air Force Base Central Mosque.
(NAN )