By Tobias Lengnan Dapam
The Mothers for United Nigeria has commiserated with the Armed Forces over the death of two Nigerian Air force pilots in an aircraft crash, saying the pilots died defending the country.
The two officers — Abubakar Alkali and Elijah Karatu — were killed in the aircraft crash which took place at NAF Base, Kaduna, on Tuesday.
The body in a statement issued yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Hajiya Hafsat Adebayo, said the officers risked their lives in their service to the country.
The group extended their sympathies to the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Leo Irabor and the deceased families saying that crash during training is 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. All three crewmembers aboard the aircraft were killed.
“Similarly, in March 2021, three military pilots died in Russia when ejection seats of their Tu-22 strategic bomber malfunctioned.
“However, we urge the Nigerian Airforce authorities to ensure the investigation into the crash is thorough and result made public to avoid future occurrence.
MUN lauded the AFN for continued onslaught against terrorists that made atleast 72 Boko Haram/ Islamic State of the West African Province(ISWAP) fighters surrender to the Nigerian Military in the Northeast of Dikwa, Borno state.
MUN said ” Only recently 517 small arms and light weapons were retrieved from bandits and criminal elements by the troops of Operation Safe Haven.
“In week 3 of Operation DAKATAR DA BARAWO (OPDDB) launched by the Nigerian Navy on 1 April 2022 to check increasing Crude Oil Theft (COT) saw the seizure of over 6,000,000 litres of products valued over N 3 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,” MUN added.
