The Chief of Air Staff, CAS, Sadique Abubakar, has disclosed that the Agusta AW 101 helicopter handed over to the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, by President Muhammadu Buhari, was used to convey the 21 Chibok girls released by Boko Haram from Maiduguri to Abuja, adding that it was not true that the air craft crash landed in Makurdi, Benue State.
Speaking with some journalists in Abuja on Saturday, he explained that the aircraft landed successfully in Makurdi, but only had problem while taxiing to park.
He also debunked speculations in some quarters that the pilots who flew the helicopter caused the incident, stating that they were the ones who had been operating the aircraft while it was still in the Presidential Air Fleet, adding that the pilots were the ones that used it to successfully fly the released Chibok girls at night.
According to him, “What happened in Makurdi was not a crash. Immediately we received the aircraft, we took one of them to Kaduna to paint it into desert camouflage. They removed the seal of the President and painted it into a combat machine. When they finished the painting, they were supposed to go to Maiduguri but they needed to go to Makurdi to pick certain things before proceeding to Maiduguri. So the aircraft took off from Kaduna, landed perfectly in Makurdi, they were just taxiing to go and park when the incident happened. I don’t want to preempt whatever investigation that is going on.
“Those same pilots were the ones that picked the 21 Chibok girls that were moved out in the night and brought them back to Maiduguri and from Maiduguri to Abuja. So accidents happen and we are investigating to find out why it happened and we will make it public when we get the picture of what really happened.”
Speaking with some journalists in Abuja on Saturday, he explained that the aircraft landed successfully in Makurdi, but only had problem while taxiing to park.
He also debunked speculations in some quarters that the pilots who flew the helicopter caused the incident, stating that they were the ones who had been operating the aircraft while it was still in the Presidential Air Fleet, adding that the pilots were the ones that used it to successfully fly the released Chibok girls at night.
According to him, “What happened in Makurdi was not a crash. Immediately we received the aircraft, we took one of them to Kaduna to paint it into desert camouflage. They removed the seal of the President and painted it into a combat machine. When they finished the painting, they were supposed to go to Maiduguri but they needed to go to Makurdi to pick certain things before proceeding to Maiduguri. So the aircraft took off from Kaduna, landed perfectly in Makurdi, they were just taxiing to go and park when the incident happened. I don’t want to preempt whatever investigation that is going on.
“Those same pilots were the ones that picked the 21 Chibok girls that were moved out in the night and brought them back to Maiduguri and from Maiduguri to Abuja. So accidents happen and we are investigating to find out why it happened and we will make it public when we get the picture of what really happened.”