Former President of the Senate, Senator David Mark has expressed shock and sadness over the death of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt. General Ibrahim Attahiru and 10 other top military brass in the ill fated plane crash in Kaduna on Friday evening.
This was contained in condolence messages to President Muhammadu Buhari, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Lt. General Lucky Irabor, the Nigerian Armed Forces and families of the fallen soldiers in Abuja.
He described the fallen officers as gallant, patriotic and heroes who were committed to the Defence of the territorial integrity of Nigeria as well as the restoration of peace, unity and security of the nation.
Senator Mark himself a retired Army General lamented that the tragedy is not only heartbreaking but one too many.
Senator Mark noted that the demise of the COAS and others at this time when their services were needed to rid the nation of security challenges is a huge set back.
He however told the Nigerian Armed Forces not to be deterred by the incident but rather be spurred towards winning the war against insurgency.
According to Mark, “the only way to immortalize the departed soldiers is to do all that is needed to win the war against insurgents and restore the citizens’ hope and confidence in the Armed Forces”.
The former Senate helmsman urged the Nigeria Airforce to subject their transport fleet to external safety audit under the civil/ military cooperation as recognized by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in order to unravel the immediate and remote causes of recent plane crashes.
This, he said is necessary to prevent future occurrences.
Those who died along with the late COAS were Brigadier General M. I. Abdulkadir, Brigadier General Olayinka, Brigadier General Kuliya, Major L. A. Hayat, Major Hamza and SGT Umar. Others were FLT LT. T. O. Asaniyi, FLT LT. A.A. Olufade, SGT Adesina and ACM Oyedepo.
Senator Mark prayed that God grants them eternal rest.
