President Muhammadu Buhari has expresed deep sadness over the air crash that claimed the lives of Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, and other military officers.
The President, in a release Friday night by his Media Adviser, Femi Adesina, condoled with families of the deceased, the military, and Nigerians in general, describing the late senior Army officers as “heroes who paid the ultimate price for peace and security in the land.”
While praying that God receives the souls of the patriots, the President says the crash “is one mortal blow to our underbelly, at a time our armed forces are poised to end the security challenges facing the country.”
President Buhari pledged that the departed would not die in vain.
The President’s statement is the first offficial confirmation that the Army chief died in the ill-fated flight.
Also, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, have described as shocking and sad the death of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, and 10 others in a plane crash on Friday evening in Kaduna.
The National Secretary of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee of APC, Sen. John Akpanudoedehe, in a statement issued Friday might said the party was in deep shock over the report of a fatal air crash of a Nigerian Air Force plane conveying Attahiru and other military personnel on Friday, May 21, 2021, near the Kaduna International Airport.
While the air crash is being investigated and reports on its cause sketchy, the party commiserated with President Muhamadu Buhari, the Nigerian military and the families of the deceased on the tragic loss of the officers who had gallantly served the nation with honour and dignity.
, Gbajabiamila, has described as shocking and sad the death of Attahiru, and 10 others in a plane crash.
The Speaker in a statement issued Friday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Lanre Lasisi, said the death of the Army Chief was unfortunate coming at a time that the Nigerian military was finding solutions to the security challenges in the country.
Gbajabiamila said having taken over from the immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen.Tukur Buratai, a couple of months ago, Attahiru had shown a lot of commitment in tackling the security situation in the country.
The Speaker who said he had a few meetings with Attahiru in search of solutions to the challenges, noted that the late Army Chief came across as a core professional officer.
.Gbajabiamila stressed that the Nigerian military, especially the Nigeria Army, had lost a dedicated and committed senior officer whose services to the fatherland would be sorely missed.
