By John Ikani
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on Sunday denied reports that another of its Alpha jet crashed in Kaduna.
Reports emerged on Sunday evening that a jet that left the NAF Base in Yola, the Adamawa State Capital for an anti-banditry operation crashed in a village in Kaduna.
It was also reported rescue parties have been dispatched to search for crew members, including the pilot.
The Director of Public Relations and Information, NAF, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, while reacting to the report, told newsmen that there was “No crash in Kaduna.”
According to him, he was still making contacts from other locations, insisting that no NAF plane left Yola, Adamawa State for Kaduna on Sunday.
However, Military sources, have told LEADERSHIP that there was a possibility of a plane crash but details were sketchy.
What you should know
The alleged crash would be the fourth NAF jet to have crashed this year, including that which killed former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru and 10 other officers in Kaduna two months ago.
On April 2, another Alpha jet crashed in Borno during an operation while there was the Minna-bound Beechcraft KingAir350i crash of March 21, that killed all seven people onboard.
According to reports, there have been 11 military plane crashes in Nigerian since 2015 that killed no fewer than 33 officers.
These include the NAF plane crash, which killed seven onboard on August 29, 2015; F-7NI jet crash on October 10, 2015 and Augusta Westland crash in Makurdi on November 15, 2015.
