Niger State has remained a hot zone for banditry and terrorism. In continuation of their attacks against Nigerians, some terrorists ambushed some Nigerian soldiers on a rescue mission in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State. The ambush led to a firefight. No fewer than three officers and 22 soldiers died in that ambush. Seven soldiers were reportedly wounded in action. Tragically, a Nigeria Air Force jet that went to the scene to evacuate the victims crashed.
Director, Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, said: “While the process was on and inbound to Kaduna, the helicopter crashed. In the crash were 14 of the previously killed in action personnel in that ambush, seven of the previously wounded-in-action personnel, two pilots of the helicopter and two crew members.”
We take it that this incident was a crash as noted by the military High Command. In this case, it is one crash too many. In February 2021, a Nigerian Air Force passenger plane, a Beechcraft King Air 350i, also crashed in Abuja after having engine failure. Seven people died in that crash. The deceased officers were said to be on their way to Minna, the capital of this same Niger State, to join in the rescue efforts of the then kidnapped students of Government Science School, Kagara in Rafi Local Government Area of the state. On March 31, 2021, a NAF Alpha fighter jet supporting ground troops fighting the Boko Haram insurgents suddenly disappeared from the airspace. The reason for this disappearance was not certain. In the same 2021, precisely on May 21, another military aircraft crashed in Kaduna, killing the then Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Attahiru Ibrahim, and 10 other officers.
A Nigerian military transport plane, Hercules C-130, had earlier crashed in Lagos in September 1992, killing all the 159 people on board. A Dornier 228 military plane also crashed at Vandekiya, Benue State, in September 2006, killing 10 Generals and four other officers. Two NAF F-7NI aircraft collided midair in Abuja in September 2018 during a rehearsal for Nigeria’s 58th independence anniversary. One of the pilots died while others were able to eject before the crash.
These frequent crashes indicate that something is amiss with the state of health of our military aircraft. Are the aircraft regularly serviced or maintained? Are the pilots well trained? Whatever the case may be, our national security is in serious jeopardy. Our image is also at stake being that a country’s strength in modern warfare is determined by the efficacy of its air power.
It is pertinent to note that the battle against bandits and terrorists is a serious one. They have waged a full-blown war against Nigeria. And they seem to be a step ahead. Last year, the then Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State lamented that bandits had taken over not less than 50 villages in five of the 25 local government areas of the state. These bandits have killed hundreds of people in the state and thousands of others in other parts of Nigeria.
Government should go all out against them. We must be decisive and use all the arsenals in our disposition to flush them out. Our soldiers should not die in vain. The only way to ensure that they don’t die in vain is to move against the terrorists squarely. Perhaps, this is the time to deploy the Tucano aircraft our government recently acquired from the United States government.
Nevertheless, before deploying any aircraft, the security agencies must ensure that it is well equipped and prepared. The Chief of Air Staff set up a committee to evaluate the integrity of the country’s aircraft after one of the crashes of 2021.The outcome of that exercise is not certain. Also not certain is how the Air Force has tried to avoid a recurrence.
Besides, there is a possibility of a mole in the military feeding the bandits with security information. This is why intelligence sharing among the security agencies is important. Government must block the identifiable sources of funding of these terrorists as well as arrest and prosecute their sponsors in accordance with the provisions of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011 (as amended).
The best way to immortalise the officers is to address the causes of banditry and terrorism in Nigeria. Among them are poverty, illiteracy, inequality and unemployment.
While we call for a probe of this recent crash, we commiserate with the Nigerian Air Force, the families and friends of the fallen heroes. We also join President Bola Tinubu to praise their sacrifices for the country. The government should accord them full military honours and should not abandon the families they left behind.
source: sun