Twenty-three years after a military plane crash
in which more than 159 officers lost their lives
in Ejirin swamp in Lagos in 1992, then military
ruler, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida
(IBB) has finally spoken on the ill-fated
incident.
Babangida, in an exclusive chat in the maiden
edition of The Interview, disclosed that the
crashed aircraft ought not to have flown on
that specific day, based on the issue of
maintenance and number of flying hours
already attained.
Responding to a question posed by The
Interview on what actually transpired on that
day and if the crash was properly investigated,
the 73-year-old former president said, “It was
investigated. It was reported. But you guys
had a mindset. Certain people had a mindset;
nobody was interested in the report. But it
was investigated. What happened in sum total
was that the aircraft should not have been
flying. There are mandatory stages, number of
hours and maintenance. All those things that
are mandatory were not there.”
When he was asked on what happened to the
people who authorised the plane to fly on that
ill-fated day, Babangida said there was no
penalty meted out, adding, “They ought to
have been punished. I know that blame was
apportioned. I wouldn’t know about the
punishment. We investigated; we even
apportioned blame but no penalty.”
On why that was so, he simply remarked,
“That is the Nigerian factor.”
Responding to inquiries on who killed
renowned journalist, Dele Giwa who died from
a parcel bomb blast, Babangida said, “A
Bomb”.
When asked in the interview on who sent the
bomb, he replied, “Would you ever think
somebody could sit and ask a soldier or
anybody, go and kill that kill that man?”
Upon the interviewer’s response that “It
depends....”, IBB was quoted to have replied,
“It depends on who? If what you hear about
other African leaders is anything to go by, you
are right to believe that it could happen
because of what happened in the case of the
Mobutus of this world. But there is also one
human being who believes in God, who
believes you cannot take away life, who
believes that God forbids you to do that, who
believes that God created you equally.
Somebody of that nature cannot, in all
fairness order the execution or killing of
another person.”
When he was pressed on his relationship with
late Dele Giwa, Babangida replied, “We were
friends. Very soon, somebody is going to
accuse me of saying he is my friend. I knew
him very closely. I have correspondence
between him and me. But that is not enough
for you to believe that we were friends. What
is enough is that I took a bomb and killed
him.”
When The Interview countered that “There was
a general feeling that he knew a lot of military
guys and knew more than he was supposed to
know....”, IBB cut in...…”That he knew we were
dealing in drugs and Gloria Okon. Somebody
should have come out with it by now. He
must have left some manuscripts.”
When he was asked if he suppressed the
investigation, the former president replied,
“There was a report on that investigation if
you may be interested to know.”
On the interviewer’s remark that witnesses in
the investigation were apparently hidden,
Babangida replied, “No. Most of what you
guys talked about was fictitious. Even one of
the persons you guys said was involved does
not seem to exist. Gloria Okon; she does not
seem to be in existence.
And then you came out with, what is the name
of the other girl who was supposed to be my
wife’s friend? She was in prison or something;
you came out with that one. There is virtually
no truth in it all. People are not very good in
putting stories together to make it look
credible. They only make it look fantastic. If
you are dealing with an idiot, of course you
can do anything. But you deal with a man who
thinks a man who tries to rationalise”.
On Saturday, September 26, 1992, a Nigerian
Air Force Hercules C-130 (NAF 911) transport
plane, carrying more than 200 persons, took
off at 5:27 pm from the Runway 19 of the
Murtala Muhammed International Airport,
Lagos, with its destination the city of Kaduna
in northern Nigeria.
However, a few minutes after take-off, the
heavy-laden plane, which was said to be
carrying not just the military boys and girls
but young students of the Nigerian Military
School (NMS), Zaria, alongside civilians,
relations and friends of military officers,
developed a fault and nose-dived into the
deep swamp not too far from the Lagos State
Low Cost Housing Estate, Ejigbo to the Festac
Town, Lagos, killing all those onboard.
In the crash officers of the 19, 20, 21 and 22
Regular Courses of the Nigerian Defence
Academy were badly hit. A list of 159 names
of those officially listed as passengers of the
C-130H was released on October 1 by the
Director of Army Public Relations, Colonel
Fred Chijuka.
The list was made up of seven Lieutenant
Colonels, 96 Majors, a Sergeant, Michael
Bahago, two students – Mr. O B Oshodi, Mrs.
M A Abu, and a reporter, Mr. Augustine Okpe.
There were also the eight-officer crew
including Alaboson, Mamadi, Squadron Leader
J A Adeiza and Flight Lieutenant S O Adamu.
The other men, Alum Wakala, Tarfa Saidu, W T
Datong and A Soyemi in addition to 19 Air
Force officers, were made up of 18 Squadron
Leaders and a Sergeant, O. Jaja.
The Nigerian Navy lost 16 Lieutenant
Commanders, Ghanaian Armed Forces, five;
Tanzania lost Major M S Mgonja while
Ugandan Major J R Mulazi also lost his life in
the crash.
The Nigerian Army Education Corps lost a
total of 19 officers, Infantry 17, Artillery 15,
Intelligence nine, Signals nine, Supply and
Transport eight, Military Police seven while
the Electrical and Mechanical Armoured and
Medical Corps lost four officers each. Others
included Ordinance three while Finance and
Personnel and Training lost two men each.


http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/23-years-after-ibb-opens-up-on-crashed-hercules-c-130/227236/

They should continue to RIP.

Serial killer called IBB


During OBJ so many generals lost there lives through plane crash (Explosives)


During IBB the same story.


GEJ Non

.

The way he sounds on the crash issue makes me feel like he was the mastermind,see as he dey mention names of the victims...

So Naija sef dey keep state secrets??

The more you see, the less you know; that is supposed to be the motto of the military regimes in Nigeria. It was a bomb that sent a bomb to kill Dele Giwa, ok na.


*mycandidopinion*

Blood sucking generals

**grins** Mr inteviewer, ask maradona if he is ready to undergo a lie dectector polygraph test to prove his innocence. **grins**

even lie detectors can be fooled with honesty

general IBRO HAS SPOKEN

of what purpose is this interview meant for?

IBB will go to his grave with the true knowledge of what happened to some of the finest soldiers Nigeria ever had.

Join us in saying no to the so called social media bill sponsored by the poorly dressed Ibn N'alla and his cohorts, Saraki and Dino.

If you don't want to be reviled, stay at home and dont seek public office.
Apc rode to power in part due to social Media and to seek to cut down its powers now is a travesty.

Venue- Unity fountain, Abuja
Tuesday 8 December

Nonsense

All the key people who could tell the story have either died or non existent buy there's still a God who sees all and knows all.

.

Why does he not like to talk about issues that are obvious he's involved in? This man still lying at 73? Na only film dey talk say bad people and winches dey confess o,this IBB has no atom of conscience,I doubt if he can confess till he dies,only God saved him he didn't commit those atrocities in this era of social media where there are smart youths all over behind computers to voice out. Maybe he would have tried to bomb them through the internet.
IBB go to your mosque to confess you vampire.
You can't outsmart kids of nowadays anymore with your old school Maradona style,change that style,its only for gullible people of the past. Its obvious you masterminded those killings,how come you named the missions,victims,battalions etc when it's obvious you don't care that much. Your intention for naming them is for people to say you still have eidetic memory at 73,but little do you know you're exposing yourself the more.
How come you alleged Mobutu as being a bad person? Why didn't you believe Mobutu didn't do what they said he did if you want people to believe you cos i'm sure Mobutu must have said something similar to what you're saying to clear himself of the killings and make himself look like an angel