The Peoples Democratic Party is calling for an independent judicial enquiry into the spate of military plane crashes in the country.
The appeal follows the crash of a Super Mushak trainer aircraft belonging to the Nigerian Airforce in Kaduna on Tuesday which killed two officers who were reportedly on a training mission.
In a statement signed on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the PDP alleged a possible security compromise and complicity in the All Progressives Congress-led regime which, it said, is leading to incessant unexplained military plane crashes in the country in the last seven years.
The statement titled ‘Incessant military plane crashes: PDP raises alarm, read in part, “It is instructive to note that our nation has experienced no fewer than 11 unexplained military air crashes since the Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government took over power in 2015.
“The disturbing trend is the fact that after each crash, the APC government comes up with a public announcement to investigate the circumstances surrounding the mishap but typical of the administration, such investigation went cold.
“This pattern gives credence to the strong suspicion among Nigerians that there is complicity or sabotage in our national security architecture including the Airforce which is very critical to any meaningful fight against terrorism.”
Citing a similar incident in May last year which killed the then Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru and 10 others, PDP said it “demands for a system-wide independent judicial enquiry to conduct an investigation into the remote and immediate causes of these incessant crashes of our military aircrafts especially in the face of worsening terrorism attacks in the country.”
The main opposition noted that the demand for inquiry is consistent with the demands by Nigerians who have lost faith in the ability of the government to conduct a transparent and credible investigation into any matter.
“Our party is saddened with this trend of event and hereby condoles with the Nigerian Airforce, the families of the officers involved in the air crash and prays for the repose of the souls of the departed officers.
“The PDP salutes our courageous military officers and charges them not to be deterred by this very sad and unfortunate incident but to remain vigilant and focused in their constitutional duty of protecting our nation especially at this critical point in our national life,” Ologunagba stated.
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