The remains of five Air Force personnel, who died in the ill-fated MI-35 Helicopter which crashed in Damasak, Borno state on 2nd January 2019, were buried on Tuesday by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF).
They were laid to rest in military tradition during a solemn ceremony after a Christian church service and Moslem funeral prayers held at the National Military Cemetery in Abuja.
Those buried are: Flight Lieutenant Perowei Jacob – Pilot in Command; Flight Lieutenant Kaltho Paul Kilyofas – Co-Pilot; Sergeant Auwal Ibrahim – Flight Technician; Lance Corporal Adamu Nura – Gunner and Aircraftman Meshack Ishmael – Gunner.
Highlights of the ceremony included the marching-in of the bodies of the fallen heroes, reading of their resumes, lowering of the caskets, wreath laying, firing of volleys by the burial party and sounding the last post.
The Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar said the personnel lost their lives when they pursued the vehicles of terrorists so that the lives of soldier of 145 Battalion in Damasak, Borno state would be saved.
He said, “The loss of these courageous and professional gentlemen must spur the rest of us not only to rededicate ourselves in the service of our nation, but also to resolve that we expose and fight all agents of destabilization and extremism in our society.”
He said, “We must throw in everything we have to this fight to ensure that our departed colleagues did not die in vain.”
“We must do everything possible to bring the ongoing insurgency in the North East to a speedy end that is favourable to our nation.
“I am indeed deeply touched and saddened by the price which our patriots had to pay in this needless fight against insurgency.
“Our departed heroes fought that we live in a safe and secured Nigeria where the freedom of worship and association of one and all are guaranteed under one indivisible nation,” he said.
Abubakar told the immediate family of the deceased that they have no better consolation than the knowledge that the nation grieves with them.
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