Mothers for United Nigeria (MUN) has commiserated with the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) over the death of two Nigerian Air Force pilots in an unfortunate crash of its trainer aircraft.
The group, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Hajiya Hafsat Adebayo, said the two officers: Flt.-Lt. Abubakar Alkali and Flt.-Lt. Elijah Karatu died defending Nigeria.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the two officers were killed in the crash which occurred in Kaduna on April 19.
Adebayo said the group sympathised with the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor and families of the deceased.
She said that crashes during trainings are not peculiar to Nigeria.
“In January 2021, 3 National Guard members on a training flight were killed when their UH-60 Black Hawk medical evacuation helicopter crashed in a farmer’s field in western New York.
“In February 2021 in Idaho, USA, Army National Guard UH-60 crashed 10 miles east of Boise, in bad weather during a routine training mission killing all three crew members on board.
“Similarly, in March 2021, three military pilots died in Russia when ejection seats of their Tu-22 strategic bomber malfunctioned,” she said.
The group’s spokesperson urged NAF authorities to ensure investigation into the crash is thorough and result made public to avoid future occurrence.
She also commended the AFN for the continued onslaught against terrorists which had forced thousands of Boko Haram/ Islamic State of the West Africa Province (ISWAP) members to continue to surrender to troops in North East.
According to her, the military has continued to record successes against criminals across the country.
“Only recently 517 small arms and light weapons were retrieved from bandits and criminal elements by the troops of ”Operation Safe Haven”.
“In week three of ”Operation Dakatar Da Barawo” (OPDDB) launched by the Nigerian Navy on April 1, to check increasing Crude Oil Theft (COT) saw the seizure of over 6,000,000 litres of products valued over N3 billion from oil thieves and economic saboteurs.
“All these indicate that the Armed Forces of Nigeria under the leadership of Gen. Irabor is not relenting in making Nigeria uncomfortable for criminal elements.
“We urge fellow citizens to support and not overlook the sacrifices of our military personnel as they seek to protect us,” she added. (NAN)
