Buratai Condoles Buhari, Nigerian Army, Families of Victims In Plane Crash

<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>Buratai Condoles Buhari<&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a> <&sol;strong>reports that Retired Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai&comma; immediate past Chief of Army Staff and Ambassador Designate&comma; has expressed shock and sadness on the death of Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru&comma; the Chief of Army Staff and some senior Military officers in a plane crash&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The full statement he personally signed and made available to NAOSRE reads below&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>&OpenCurlyQuote;’I was deeply shocked and saddened by the news of the passing away of my immediate successor&comma; Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru&comma; the Chief of Army Staff &lpar;COAS&rpar;&comma; the Acting Chief of Military Intelligence&comma; Acting Provost Marshal &lpar;Army&rpar;&comma; the Aide-de-Camp and the Acting Deputy Director Finance in the office of the COAS&comma; his Orderly&comma; as well as the pilots and crew in an air crash on 21 May 2021 at Kaduna Airport&period;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>I would like to&comma; on behalf of my family&comma; reiterate my deepest sympathy and condolences to the President&comma; Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Federal Republic of Nigeria&comma; the families of the deceased&comma; the Honourable Minister of Defence&comma; the Chief of Defence&comma; the Chief of Air Staff&comma; gallant officers&comma; soldiers and airmen of the Armed Forces of Nigeria over the passing away of these courageous&comma; loyal and patriotic Nigerians in line of duty&period;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>I am deeply saddened by this incident that can best be described as tragic to all Nigerians and peace-loving people because Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru and those officers who died along with him were top-level officers whose records of service were meritorious&period;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>This unfortunate incident deeply saddens me as it robbed us of the services of the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wsj&period;com&sol;">Chief of Arm<&sol;a>y Staff who&comma; since he took over from me&comma; had left no one in doubt as regards his determination to succeed in the various military operations across the country&period; He was at the verge of making the nation proud in the counterinsurgency and counterterrorism efforts when this tragedy occurred&period; I do not doubt his ability as he had served under me in various capacities and was well grounded for the job with active support and collaboration of his colleagues&period;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>While condoling with the Armed Forces of Nigeria&comma; I urge them to close ranks and make sure that their legacy lives on by consolidating on the gains made in the various operations&period; They gave their lives in the line of duty and patriotic service to the nation&period;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>My thoughts and prayers are with the families of these great heroes&period; May the Almighty Allah grant them eternal rest&comma; Amin&period;’’<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;