A navy helicopter crashed Saturday in the country's oil-rich southern delta, killing a state governor and five other people, in the latest air disaster to hit Africa's most populous nation, officials said.
Nigeria's ruling party said in a statement that the governor of the central Nigerian state of Kaduna, Patrick Yakowa, died in the helicopter crash in Bayelsa state in the Niger Delta. The People's Democratic Party's statement described Yakowa's death as a "colossal loss."
The statement said the former national security adviser, General Andrew Azazi, also died in the crash. Azazi was fired in June amid growing sectarian violence in Nigeria, but maintained close ties with the government.
The crash occurred at about 3:30 p.m. after the navy helicopter took off from the village of Okoroba in Bayelsa state where officials had gathered to attend the burial of the father of a presidential aide, said Commodore Kabir Aliyu. He said that the helicopter was headed for Nigeria's oil capital of Port Harcourt when it crashed in the Nembe area of Bayelsa state.
Yushau Shuaib, a spokesman for Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency, said four other bodies had been found.
They were said to have been badly burnt and only identified by the shreds of their clothes.
Azazi and Yakowa’s mobile phones rang out continually without any response when several calls were put across to them by some top government officials.
Our correspondent gathered that the naval helicopter was heading for Port Harcourt, Rivers State, but developed a fault and crashed in the village, which also shares a boundary with Nembe Local Government Area.
The Director of Information of the Nigerian Navy, Commodore Kabir Aliyu, confirmed that a Nigerian Navy helicopter was involved in the crash which occurred around 3:30pm.
Aliyu who was silent on the identities of those involved in the crash said a rescue operation comprising personnel of the Joint Task Force, Operation Pulo Shield, the Navy, the Nigerian Air Force and the National Emergency Management Agency, were at work in Bayelsa.
A police source who pleaded anonymity said he was scheduled to board the helicopter but that there was a last minute change in the schedule.
The source said, “Two helicopters took off at the same time. After sometime, we saw the one behind us wobbling and nosediving into the swamp.
“The helicopter took off and was already stabilised on air. It had gained balance and started flying but unfortunately it came crashing.
“We are not suspecting any sabotage because the burial ground was well policed. There were gunboats surrounding the place and many security operatives at the burial ground.”
The former Chairman of the Okoroba Community Development Committee, Mr. Hitler Adunion, told SUNDAY PUNCH that he was the first person to locate the site of the incident.
Adunion said “We sighted the chopper wobbling and crash-landing. By the time we got to the scene, the helicopter was in flames. We tried to put out the flame but it was difficult. We saw the roasted bodies of those inside it.”
Around 7pm on Saturday, NEMA said it had activated its search and rescue team.
“NEMA has activated its search and rescue team in collaboration with other response agencies at the crash site,” Yushau Shuaib of NEMA headquarters was quoted as saying.
Aviation disasters remain common in Nigeria, despite efforts in recent years to improve air safety.
In October, a plane made a crash landing in central Nigeria. A state governor and five others sustained injuries but survived.
In June, a Dana Air MD-83 passenger plane crashed into a neighborhood in the commercial capital of Lagos, killing 153 people onboard and at least 10 people on the ground. It was Nigeria's worst air crash in nearly two decades.
In March, a police helicopter carrying a high-ranking police official crashed in the central Nigerian city of Jos, killing four people.
Sunday 16 December 2012
http://www.theitem.com/news/ap_news/nigeria-governor-others-die-in-helicopter-crash/article_b45b130a-472a-11e2-b949-0019bb2963f4.html
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