NEWS

The Nigerian military suffered a tragic loss on Saturday after a fighter aircraft belonging to the Nigerian Air Force crashed in Yola, the capital of Adamawa state, in North-East Nigeria. All those on the plane died in the accident, authorities said. The spokesperson for the Force, Dele Alonge, said in a statement late Saturday night that the aircraft crashed at about 4:23PM Nigerian time due to bad weather. Mr. Alonge, an Air Commodore, said the F7-Ni fighter jet, with registration number, NAF801, was ‘returning to base from an interdicted mission when it crashed around Hong, in Hong Local Government Area of Adamawa State’. “There was no survival as the pilot of the aircraft lost his life in the unfortunate incident,” Mr. Alonge said.He emphasised that the crash was due to bad weather and that the aircraft was never under enemy fire. The statement added that the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, had immediately “set up an investigation panel to unravel the remote and immediate causes of the accident”. The latest accident came exactly 42 days after another aircraft belonging to the Force crashed in Kaduna, also killing all crew and passengers on board. The identities of those on board are yet to be disclosed as at the time of posting.