The Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, has commiserated with the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on the death of its personnel in the crashed NAF aircraft.
The Director of Public Relations and Information, NAF Headquarters, AVM Ibikunle Daramola, said this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NAF Beechcraft King Air B350i aircraft crash landed on Feb. 21 in Abuja enroute Minna, killing all the seven personnel on board.
The minister commiserated with NAF when she paid a condolence visit to the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), AVM Oladayo Amao at NAF Headquarters, Abuja, alongside the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Amb. Anthonia Ekpa.
According to the statement, the ministry shares “in this dark moment of grief”.
The statement noted that Tallen, who said she was at NAF Headquarters on behalf of Nigerian women and children, prayed that the Lord would console President Muhammadu Buhari, CAS and the entire NAF family.
The Minister later presented a condolence letter to the CAS.
Amao, in his remarks, thanked the the minister for finding time to commiserate with NAF on the unfortunate incident.
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Amao said to that it was a sad Sunday for the entire NAF Family, which had lost a set of well-trained, dedicated personnel, while in the course of conducting Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions.
It noted that they had operated in virtually all theatres, including the North-East, North-West as well as the North-Central.
The statement said the deceased had been in Minna for days conducting ISR missions in connection with the concerted efforts to secure the release of the students and staff abducted from the Government Science College Kagara.
It, however, described the incident as one of the hazards of the military profession, while expressing concern that NAF would find it difficult to replace them based on the training and experience acquired over the years.
The statement said that the service was, nevertheless, consoled by the fact that the deceased personnel gave their utmost in service to the nation.