Bandits have claimed responsibility for the crash of the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) MI-171 helicopter which occurred on Monday near Chukuba village in Niger State during a casualty evacuation mission. The bandits made this disclosure in a two-minute-and-seventeen-second video released on Tuesday, claiming that they brought down the aircraft using AK-47 rifles. According to the video narrator, who spoke in Hausa, he stated that they were part of Dogo Gide group, one of the most notorious bandit group operating and terrorizing parts of Niger state and responsible for the deaths of civilians and security personnel.
The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar stated that the crash could be caused by weather conditions, adding that the NAF is investigating the incident to ascertain its cause.
He made this revelation yesterday during a condolence visit by the Governor of Niger State, Umar Bago to his office at NAF headquarters, Abuja.
The Chief of Air Staff said, “On our own parts, we are not folding our arms, we are just living with the challenges. The ideal thing is to strive for zero incident and accident in any operational environment.
“We are striving for that. It is virtually impossible to achieve but then, you strive for it, so that at the end of the day, you minimize whatever happens. Or when it happens, the effect is significantly abated. We are putting a lot of initiatives in place to check this.
“For example, we have adopted the safety management systems in all our operations. We have also adopted operational risk management procedures among others. Going forward, we are striving to achieve zero incidents in all our operations.”
He further stated the commitment of the NAF and the Armed Forces of Nigeria to eradicate insecurity nationwide.
