The candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, has reacted the Massacre of Nigerian soldiers by terrorists, while calling for a comprehensive investigation to unravel the cause of the recent crash of a Nigerian Air Force’s MI-171 helicopter in Niger State.
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) on Thursday confirmed that 36 officers were killed in Niger State.
Obi lamented that the “deplorable level of insecurity in most parts of the country has continued to embarrass and cost us precious lives and properties, with the attendant economic costs”.
The Air Force confirmed that the aircraft which departed Zungeru Primary School en route to Kaduna was later discovered to have crashed at about 1.00 p.m. at Chukuba village in the Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.
Reacting to the incident on Thursday, Obi who commiserated with the families of the soldiers who died in the tragedy and the Air Force, called for a full-scale investigation to unravel the cause of the crash as a way of preventing future occurrences.
“I am deeply saddened by the unfortunate crash of the Nigerian Air Force MI-171 Helicopter on a casualty evacuation mission, near Chukuba Village in Niger State,” he said.
“My heart is with the families of the gallant soldiers who lost their lives in that incident. I also sincerely commiserate with the Nigerian Air Force over this painful incident and urge them and other security agencies not to be dispirited over the challenges, but to see them as our path to achieving a safe and secure nation.
“I would also like to encourage a full-scale investigation to be carried out to unravel the cause of the crash as a way of preventing future occurrences.
“We will never give up on our nation. It is our greatest heritage in whose service all our sacrifices become noble acts,” Obi added.
