The family of the pilot of the crashed Nigerian Air Force MI-171 jet, Flight Lieutenant Ibrahim Adamu has expressed gladness about getting his remains for burial.
Adamu Abubakar, the elder brother of the pilot said the family thought they wouldn’t see the remains of their siblings again not until it was brought for burial.
This, he said, necessitated the earlier Muslim prayer held for the late pilot when the family did not get the body.
This was just as the mother of the late pilot, Hajiya Aisha Adamu, described her son, one of the 27th children in the family, as a generous man, who was loved by all.
She narrated that the late pilot would often call and seek prayers from her.
The duo spoke shortly after the body of the pilot of the NAF jet that crashed in Niger State, was buried in Zaria, Kaduna State on Tuesday.
The funeral service held at the Haruna Danja Jumma’at Mosque was led by the Chief Imam, Sheikh Muhammad Gumi.
The elder brother of the deceased in an interview, said that the family had earlier performed a proxy funeral prayer(Salatul Gha’ib) for the deceased at Gaskiya Corporation Mosque in Tudun Jukun, also in Zaria.
He said the family earlier performed a proxy funeral prayer in absentia for the deceased when “we concluded that we might not see” the corpse of the late pilot, adding that “as relatives, we have a religious obligation to perform the prayer with or without the corpse.”
“However, now that the corpse has been discovered, it is also mandatory for us to perform another funeral prayer for the deceased, which is not out of place. And that’s what we just did,” he added.
On her own part, the late pilot’s mother said her son was gentle, generous, friendly, and always guided by the doctrine of Islam.
She said, “Ibrahim was one of the 27th children of the family and was so loved by all due to his good character. He often called me on the phone while at work and asked me to pray for him. He never joked in seeking the blessings of his parents whenever he had the chance to call.”
