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By Gilbert da Costa, VOA Abuja
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A total of 13 senior Nigerian military officers who died in a plane crash over the weekend were given a national burial in the capital Thursday.
Thousands of Nigerians and several foreign delegations attended the solemn ceremony at the military cemetery in Abuja.
A total of 13 senior Nigerian military officers who died in a plane crash over the weekend were given a national burial in the capital Thursday.
Thousands of Nigerians and several foreign delegations attended the solemn ceremony at the military cemetery in Abuja.
President Olusegun Obasanjo was joined by his estranged deputy, Atiku Abubakar, as the two most powerful men in Nigeria put aside their differences to mourn the dead.
A somber-looking President Obasanjo, who lamented the loss of 10 army generals in a single peace-time incident, urged Nigerians to be comforted by the fact that the rest of the world mourns with them.
"I am only going to say to the nation, the armed forces and to the families of our departed brothers, that we are not alone, judging by the phone calls I have received from world leaders, African leaders, including the secretary-general of the United Nations. Delegations have been sent to me by brother African leaders and the fact that we have President Kabbah [of Sierra Leone], former president Kaunda, is an indication that we are not alone in our hour of darkness," said President Obasanjo.
Nigeria's chief of defense staff, General Luther Agwai, said the 13 officers represented some of the best in the Nigerian military.
"They were among the most productive, articulate and bravest in the Nigeria armed forces before their demise," he said. "They were officers who had gone to various hot spots in the world and were tested in the rudiments of modern military battlefield. They came back alive and in one piece, only to lose the ultimate battle to death in a peaceful environment. The death of these gentlemen officers is a terrible blow to the military. They were officers who had received the very best of both military and civilian training."
The climax of the three-hour ceremony was the lowering of the caskets into the 13 graves, amid wailing by friends and relations of the dead officers.
The Nigerian air force plane, with 18 passengers, crashed in a remote village in central Nigeria. Five passengers survived the crash.
An official investigation has been launched.
On the manifest released yesterday by the military authorities were :
Maj-Gen. Nuhu Bamali (2 Div) (pictured Left)
Maj-Gen. J.O. Adesunloye (81 Div),
Maj-Gen. J.O. Agboola,
Major-General S.O. Otubu,
Major-General S.M. Lemu,
Major-General J.T.U Ahmedu,
Major-General P.M. Haruna
Major-General B. Duniya;
Brigadier-Gen. Y.J. Braimah
Brigadier-Gen.M.B. Bawa,
Lt. Col. N.A. Mohammed
The pilot whose name was not given. - There are, however, six survivors. They are Col. A.L. Dusu, Col. O.C. Ajunwa, Col. N.I. Angbazo and three crewmembers, one of who is a female.
Nigeria leader heads home after jet crash
Twelve people died in the crash of a Nigerian Air Force jet, most of them senior military personnel, the country's finance minister said Monday.
Nigeria's president cut short a visit to Singapore and rushed back to his country following Sunday's crash, the cause of which remained under investigation.
The military transport aircraft was traveling from the capital, Abuja, to the southern town of Obudu when it went down in the southeast with a group of military officers on board.
Nigerian Air Force spokesman Emeka Ozoemena said Sunday that a search and rescue team had reached the site and found some survivors.
Finance Minister Nenadi E. Usman said 12 of 17 people were killed and most were senior military personnel.
Obasanjo was in Singapore for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
"He had to leave and return home immediately," Usman said before delivering a keynote speech on Obasanjo's behalf.
Nigeria is Africa's leading oil producer and the world's eight-biggest exporter, but is hobbled by a history of official corruption and bloody coups.
A World Bank report released at the annual general meeting in Singapore last week cited Nigeria among 26 countries at risk of failing and becoming hotbeds of terrorism and regional instability.
Generals, others feared dead in NAF plane crash
By Tunji Oketunbi, Wole Shadare, Alex Olise (Lagos) Alifa Daniel, Emeka Anuforo (Abuja), Saxone Akhaine (Kaduna), Iyabo Lawal (Ibadan) and Simeon Nwakaudu (Makurdi)
DEEP anguish enveloped the nation yesterday as a Dornier 228-212 belonging to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) crashed into the hills of Ushongo Village in Benue State, 18 nautical miles from its destination, Obudu, Cross River State.
Eighteen top military officials, including Major-Generals with command positions and fourColonels and crew were said to be on board the light military aircraft, which was on its way to Bebi Airstrip, Obudu. It was not clear at press time if there were survivors.
Both the Nigerian Army, which reportedly had its top brass aboard the ill-fated aircraft and the Nigerian Air Force confirmed the accident.
The Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authorities (NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren, told The Guardian that the Air Force would issue a statement on the mishap.
Colonel Abdul Usman, Deputy Director, Army Public Relations Department, confirmed that the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 2nd Mechanised Division, Ibadan, Gen. Nuhu Bamali, travelled on official assignment but that he was yet to get details of his whereabouts.
He said efforts were still on last night to contact military authorities on the incident.
Several calls to the GOC's phone failed as it was switched off. Similar calls to Col. Ayo Olaniyan, Director, Army Public Relations, did not go through as his line was also unavailable.
Confirming the crash, the Nigerian Air Force Tactical Command Public Relations Officer in Makurdi, Wing Commander Sadiq Shehu, said the aircraft took off from Benin and had Generals of the Nigerian Army on board.
Shehu said that the Air Force Tactical Air Command had already dispatched two helicopters on a rescue mission but refused to give details about survivors.
Hours after the crash, the Nigerian Air Force spokesman, Group Captain Emeka Ozoemena, who also declined to give details of casualties and survivors, confirmed that the crash occurred in Ushongo Village, 18 nautical miles from the Obudu Cattle Ranch.
"The air plane has also been found and we are continuing with our search and rescue efforts to try and rescue some other people," Ozoemena said on phone yesterday evening.
The military officers in the crashed plane, he said, were on their way to a retreat in Obudu Ranch.
Special Assistant to Benue State Governor on Media, Mrs. Beckie Orpin, also confirmed the crash at Government House, Makurdi. The state governor, George Akume, immediately led the state's Security Council to Koti-Yough and Ikyogen villages, where policemen from Vandeikya and Obudu divisions were already assisting in rescue operations.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Andrew Azzazi and the Chief of Air Staff, AVM Paul Dike, arrived in Calabar aboard NAF 917 around 6.00 p.m. yesterday for an onward journey to the scene of the accident.
They were received by the Cross River State Deputy Governor, Dr. Walter Eneji, and other government officials.
A resident of the area, in a telephone interview, told reporters that villagers claimed they saw the aircraft dangling in the air, having clearly lost control.
According to him, the aircraft crashed into the hills a few minutes after noon. He said that the villagers because of the loud bang initially refused to get close to the crash site, but later mobilised their vigilance personnel to the area.
The resident quoted the villagers as declaring that the nature of damage to the aircraft indicated that there were no survivors.
The Guardian learnt that the villagers were leaving the crash area in droves as military personnel and police officers arrived in their numbers.
The story of the crash has shocked people in the state capital as many were seen in groups, discussing the unfortunate accident. Several conflicting stories made the rounds as to where the crash actually took place.
Air Force authorities refused to give details, insisting that a press statement would be issued after the completion of assessment at the crash site.
Eneji could not ascertain number of casualties or survivors but said " the search by the rescue team is on and until they come we can't say anything. But we are sad with the incident."
The Chief Press Secretary to the Cross River State Governor, Mr Joseph Ushigiale, said: "The 18 seater-military aircraft is believed to have crashed around Vandeikya in Benue State about 18 nautical miles from Bebi airstrip. Although details of survivors are still hazy, but search and rescue helicopters have been despatched to the scene believed to be a difficult terrain."
Dr. Rowland Ndomaegba of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital said medical personnel were on ground both at the scene and in Calabar to handle the situation.
The Director of Information of the Defence Headquarters, Felix Chukwuma, a Brigadier-General, yesterday told The Guardian on phone that the plane was taking the officers to the Obudu Ranch for the Chief of Staff Retreat when the incident happened.
His words: "There was an air crash today (yesterday) involving a light military aircraft with 17 military officers on board. Though details are still sketchy, we believe there are survivors." The 18th person is believed to be a crew member.
The Nigerian Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was said to have despatched its helicopter to the scene to begin a search and rescue operation.
A small German twin turboprop Short Take Off and Landing (STOL) utility aircraft, the Dornier Do 228 was manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 to 1998. In 1998, the production line was stopped for better development of the successor Dornier 328.
Hindustan Aeronautics of India in 1983 bought a production licence and manufactures the 228 to this day. Approximately 270, the Do 228 planes were built at Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany and Kanpur, India. About 195 are believed to be still in service worldwide. No fewer than 22 of the aircraft type have been flying in the Nigerian airspace for close to two decades.
Dornier 228 aircraft is not a new comer in the Nigerian aviation industry. Among the operators in Nigeria are DANA (Dornier Aviation Nigeria AIEP), which has 12, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) with eight, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) both with one each.
The conditions of all these aircraft cannot be ascertained for now as several of them are currently unserviceable.
The Kaduna State-based DANA Aviation company, which sold the aircraft to the NAF, also maintains the Dornier fleet for it.
The aircraft type has recorded worldwide 22 hull-loss accidents with a total of 109 fatalities. Other occurrences include one with a total of three fatalities, one unfiled occurrence with no fatalities, one hijacking with no fatalities and a selection three incidents with no fatalities.
On September 12, 1997 a NAF Dornier 228-212 in Nguru, Borno State, ran into a ditch during take off. The pilot lost control and the plane ran into a tree. Although there were eight passengers and two crew members on board, there was no fatality.
A Nigerian air force Dornier 228 aircraft with 17 people, including senior military officers, on board crashed in a yet unknown part of Nigeria, defense spokesman Felix Chukwuma said Sept 17.
Preliminary reports indicate that there were some survivors in the flight from Abuja to the Obudu Cattle Ranch in the southeastern state of Cross River where the officials were to participate in a series of meetings at a hotel and conference center.
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Posted by Robot| 17.09.2006 14:41