Squadron Leader Adekunle Suara (pilot), wife of Wing Commander N. Hassan, wife of Wing Commander I. B. Musa, Warrant Officer Etim and Air Craft Woman Naomi Adekunle were among victims of the ill-fated Dornier 228 aircraft that crashed in Kaduna on Saturday.
The identities of the victims of the Nigerian Air Force plane was made known on Sunday.
The Abuja-bound aircraft crashed into residential quarters at Ribadu Cantonment in Kaduna in the early hours of Saturday, killing all on board.
Suara, who was the pilot of the aircraft, is survived by a young wife.
The Acting Director, Defence Infiormation, Col. Rabe Abubakar, said in a statement on Sunday that the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Defence, Alhaji Aliyu Ismaila, represented President Muhammadu Buhari during the visit to the victims’ families. He quoted the President as having described the crash as a heavy loss not only to the members of the families of those killed in the crash but also to the entire nation.
Ismaila was in company with the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Officer Commanding, Training Command, General Officer Commanding, 1 Division, Commandants of Air Force Institute of Technology and the Nigerian Defence Academy among others paid condolence visits to the victims families at the NAF Base, Kaduna. The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin, who was also in the Presidential entourage, said the officers died gallantly in the line of duty.
Lt. Col. Grema, whose house the plane crashed into, told the Permanent Secretary and his entourage that he stepped out of the house a few second before the plane crashed into his residence.
According to him, his mission was to put on his borehole when he heard crashing of the plane.
“I came out of my house a few minutes before the plane fell, just to put on my borehole. I had not quite shut the door to my house when I heard the plane fell,” he said.
Also, Wing Commanders Musa and Hassan, whose wives perished in the crash, said the visit by the defence team had given them courage to raise the children their wives left behind. The officers, however pledged their loyalty and unrelenting efforts to move the NAF in particular and the Nigeria military in general forward.
The Permanent Secretary, who later spoke to journalists, said they were in the state to commiserate with the families who lost their loved ones and their property to the unfortunate crash. He said, “It is a very sad thing , not only to the Nigerian Air Force, but to all Nigerians. We have lost very able officers and their families and we want to, on behalf of the Federal Government, extend our condolences to all of them and pray for the repose of their souls.”

source: PunchNg

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