22nd May, 2021
Kazeem Ugbodaga
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has described the death of Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Ibrahim Attahiru and others as a dark day for Nigeria.
The Beechcraft 350 plane crashed on Friday in Kaduna, killing Attahiru and 10 others.
Reacting to the sad news, Atiku said it was in deed a dark day, saying that the loss of the COAS and others sent rude shock across Nigeria.
He sympathized with President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian Army over the death of the officers.
“It is a dark day for the nation. The loss of COAS Major Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru and others today sends a rude shock across Nigeria and our friends worldwide.
“I sympathise with the Commander-in-Chief and our armed forces on this sad development. May the Attahiru family and other affected families be comforted, and their memories be a blessing,” he tweeted.
Attahiru and the aides were going to Kaduna, ostensibly to attend tomorrow’s passing out parade of soldiers from the Nigerian Army Depot in Zaria.
The aircraft, with registration number, 5N-R203 was billed to land at the Nigerian Airforce Base in Mando area.
But it was diverted to land at the Kaduna airport, amid heavy rainfall.
On landing, the plane exploded and burned, leaving occupants no chance to survive.