Monday, 24 May 2021: The Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation, (NIDO), USA Chapter, on Sunday called on the Federal Government to urgently probe the recent recurring military plane crashes in the country.

NIDO, in a statement by its Chairman, Dr Eromosele Idahosa, and the Executive Director, Ms Patience Key, said the incident was a “national disaster”, adding a thorough probe is necessary to avert future occurrences.

The statement said there was the need to unravel the root causes of the crashes, expressing worry that the Nigerian Army had in the past three months recorded three plane crashes.

In February, a NAF aircraft crashed in Abuja killing all the seven officers on-board, while in March a NAF Alpha-Jet aircraft was declared crashed in Borno.

The recent NAF aircraft that crashed on Friday in Kaduna killed the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, and 10 others.

The statement stressed that aside the charge to the federal government to probe the incessant crashes; it should also carry out regular maintenance of existing ones.

“We encourage the government to maintain the planes and purchase new ones if existing ones are unserviceable.

“This is in addition to putting implementable structures to secure the whole country and the citizens,’’ he said.
The organisation said maintenance of the military aircrafts should be paramount and plans should be put in place to purchase aircrafts that align with military and intelligence operations.

The statement stated that everything necessary should be done by the authorities “to avoid premature death of those who risk their lives for the security of the country”.

They commiserated with the families of the late army chief and other officers who were involved in the plane crashes.