The joint chairman/president, boards of directors, Centre for Convention on Democratic (Nigeria & United States), CCDI, Comrade Olufemi Aduwo, has condoled President Muhammadu Buhari on the death of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Ibrahim Attahiru, which occurred on Friday when the Nigerian Air Force plane he was traveling in crashlanded in Kaduna State. Ten other military men died with Attahiru in the incident.
In a condolence letter titled, ‘One Friday: Too Long, Too Dark’ and addressed to the president on behalf of CCDI, Aduwo, who is the permanent representative of the Centre at ECOSOC/United Nations, expressed his heartfelt sympathy to families of the victims, while he prayed that God gives them the fortitude to bear the monumental loss.
Lamenting the fate of the deceased officers, Aduwo writes: “The light suddenly went off for the nation on this day. But even in the midst of darkness and pain we see hope. As we Mourn, we also celebrate the extraordinary lives of these patriotic officers and men who devoted their lives and died with their boots in defending our dear nation, our common home and future, against external aggression.”
Meanwhile, the social rights crusader has appealed to President Buhari to order for immediate grounding of Beechcraft King Air 350i fleet while he advocated a technical probe of the remote causes of the crash by the manufacturer and the government of Nigeria, including the previous two plane crashes which happened in Abuja and Maiduguri in February and March this year.
“We appeal to your excellency to order for the immediate grounding of Beechcraft King Air 350i fleet and the stakeholders; manufacturer and the government of Nigeria should set up a technical investigation team to investigate the remote and immediate causes of this crash and the two other Air Force aircraft which crashed in February and March 2021 this year in Abuja and Maiduguri respectively. We place the affected families and the entire military under God’s continued guidance, and so let it be oh God!,” Aduwo stated.
