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● Nigeria Air Force celebrates pilots of Ejigbo C-130 crash
By Philip Nwosu
It was a solemn moment for officers and men of the Nigerian Air Force recently.
At a ceremony held at the Force’s Logistics Command in Lagos, memories of the 1992 ill-fated Charlie 130 Hercules (C-130-H) flight, which crashed into the swamps of Ejigbo in Lagos, came flooding back.
The event was the commissioning of a two-storey building to accommodate officers of the force. The building was named after the crew of the ill-fated aircraft.
To many, the gesture was a good effort by the present leadership of the force who thought it right to remember, 24 years after the incident, that the plane was flown by some NAF personnel, who also died in the crash.
Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Sadique Abubakar, who led other Air Force officers to immortalise the crew of the plane, lamented the crash of the flight. He explained that the officers died in the line of the duty, adding that the Force had already taken steps to address the welfare of their families.
He named the crew of the ill-fated plane as Wing Commanders Pere Alabosun, Ali Mamadi and Squadron Leader JA Adeiza. They were pilots, co-pilots and flight engineer of the aircraft, respectively.
Before now, a lot of criticisms over the welfare needs of the pilots had flooded the media, with many people insisting that the Force should have ensured that the families of the fallen pilots never felt the impact of the loss of their breadwinners.
Many, especially the families of the dead officers, had complained that the Force had abandoned them after their breadwinners died in the unfortunate crash.
They had talked about the non-fulfillment of the promises made to them by the top hierarchy of the Force and also the failure of the Force to pay the entitlement of the officers after their demise.
For years, the families of the dead officers had pressured the authorities to address their needs. But for years, their requests, like the seeds of the biblical sower, had fallen on hard rock and so, had failed to germinate.
At the event, however, the Air Chief had noted: “We have ensured that the welfare of the families of our fallen personnel is catered for. We provide accommodation for their families and those who died in service, their families got bulk pension of five years.”
The ill-fated plane, a Lockheed C-130H Hercules transport plane with the call sign NAF-911, was destroyed when it crashed in the swamps of Ejigbo in Lagos.
All passengers and crew members onboard the plane were killed in what was termed one of the worst air disasters in Nigeria’s military aviation history.
All the passengers were middle rank officers, mainly students of the Command and Staff College in Jaji, Kaduna State, who were on tour of naval facilities in Lagos, as part of the senior division course curriculum for the completion of their programmes in the school.
Witnesses said the flight took off at about 17:30pm. The reporter learnt that immediately after takeoff, one of its engines failed, followed by another engine failure shortly after.
It was gathered that the crew tried to land the plane, which was full of passengers, in the Ejigbo canal, but then its third engine failed and the Hercules crashed, nose-diving into a tropical mangrove swamp.
All 158 Nigerian military officers, including some of their counterparts from Ghana and Tanzania, were killed in the crash.
While remembering the crash that killed many of its personnel, Nigerian Air Force chief also used the opportunity to apologise to Nigerians for the erroneous attack of its fighter planes on the camps of internally displaced persons (IDPs) recently, explaining that the incident was regrettable.
Air Marshal Abubakar described as unfortunate, the accidental bombing of the IDP camp in Rann, Borno State, explaining that the incident occurred while the personnel were on a mission to protect the IDPs that were killed.
The Air Force Chief said although remarkable successes had been achieved in its fight against insurgents, the incident of January 17, 2017 in the North-east was highly regrettable and unfortunate.
“The days between the incident and now have been the most painful for us,” he observed. “However, we take solace in the fact that it was in a bid to secure these same victims that this sad incident occurred. We are reviewing our processes to unravel how this sad incident could have occurred and to prevent future occurrence.
“I urge you not to be discouraged by this unfortunate incident but rather, we will continue to strive harder to secure our communities and add value to our societies.”
He said the building being commissioned was constructed to address the inadequacy of houses in the base and in various units across the country.
“We are also embarking on massive renovation and upgrading of existing quarters that were hitherto dilapidated in order to improve their conditions,” he assured.
While eulogising the Air Force for its role in combating insurgents and militancy, Abubakar said the Force had contributed greatly to the restoration of peace, security, humanitarian efforts and well-being of Nigerians.
“We have performed credibly well in all the ongoing operations we are engaged in. These were achieved through effective projection of air power in various operations to soften the ground for the surface forces,” he stated.
Earlier, the Air Officer Commanding (AOC), Logistics Command, Air Vice Marshal Ibrahim Yahaya, had described the building as another milestone project for the NAF personnel in Lagos.
He said: “This would go a long way in ameliorating the shortage of officers’ residential quarters in the Lagos area. Undoubtedly, the execution of similar projects and numerous others in different NAF units across the country showcases the commitment of the CAS towards the actualisation of his vision.
“Improving the personnel’s living condition has not only raised their morale but has also modelled them into a highly professional and disciplined troop for effective, efficient and timely employment in response to Nigeria’s national security imperatives.”
