Nigeria’s copter crash: Yakowa, Azazi’s bodies taken to morgue

The National Emergency Management Agency said they have recovered the bodies of the victims of Nigeria’s military helicopter crash in Bayelsa state today.

In a statement, NEMA said “the bodies of the six passengers on-board the helicopter” had been taken to the “mortuary”.

In another statement by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, Kaduna state Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa and ex-national security advisor Owoye Azazi were among the victims.

There were four others identified to be two security aides of the governor and the pilot and co-pilot of the naval chopper. The other victims are Dauda tsoho, warrant officer Mohammed Kamal, Commander Muritala Mohammed and Lt. Adeyemi O .Sowole.

The victims had attended a burial service in Bayelsa state and were returning to Port Harcourt, when the chopper conveying them crashed into the creeks, bursting into flames.

There was no survivor.

Azazi, considered a close ally of President Goodluck Jonathan, was fired in January following a series of deadly attacks claimed by the radical Islamist group Boko Haram, which has killed hundreds in Nigeria since 2009.

Yakowa, 64,

headed kaduna state which has been among the hardest hit by Boko Haram. The Islamist group has repeatedly attacked Christian targets in and around the state capital, Kaduna city.

In a statement, President Goodluck Jonathan described the deaths as painful to the nation and said an investigation would be conducted into the cause of the crash.

A statement by the Nigerian navy has confirmed the accident and the chopper that crashed giving its name as the Augusta helicopter (Helo 07).