The former General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Nigerian Army’s 1st Division, retired Major General Danjuma Ali-Keffi, has expressed grave concerns over the deadly aircraft accident that killed 11 other top military commanders including the former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru.
In an exclusive interview with THISDAY, Ali-Keffi argues that there is a close connection between the crash and those who finance terrorism, and she calls on President Bola Tinubu to look into the situation right once.
Ali-Keffi, who voiced his doubts about the official inquiry, claims important information regarding the incident was being withheld.
He underlined that the investigation’s whole report has not been made public, raising doubts about the events that preceded the sad event.
According to the retired general, Attahiru played a crucial role in developing plans to destroy terrorists in Northern Nigeria.
According to Ali-Keffi, the late army chief exposed and stopped terrorist financiers as part of his efforts to combat terrorism.
Ali-Keffi expresses concerns over the sudden changes in the planned trip, the choice of aircraft, and the landing airport in a thorough description of the events leading up to the tragedy.
He challenges the official story by citing a string of odd occurrences that included the aircraft’s descent during bad weather, a delayed departure, and an ear-shattering explosion before to the crash.
“I spoke on the phone with the Chief of Staff (COS) to the late COAS regarding their upcoming trip to Kaduna the following day (May 21, 2021) at approximately 2100 hours on Thursday, May 20, 2021,” Ali-Keffi clarified.
On the same matter, I had already spoken with General Attahiru. We concluded our talk with the announcement that the entourage and late COAS will arrive by plane the next day at around 1000 hours.
I had to make preparations for the COAS to attend Jummu’at (Friday) prayers at the mosque, so I contacted the COS to the late COAS early the next morning to make sure their travel schedule was as we had arranged the previous evening.
“I was notified by the COS that the plan had changed. He said that following our conversation last night, they got a message that the late COAS was expected to attend a meeting on Friday, May 21, 2021, at approximately 1000 hours, either at the Presidential Villa or at the office of the Honorable Minister of Defence (HMOD). The late COAS was expected to attend in person and was not permitted to send a representative.
It is significant to remember that the late COAS visited Kaduna as part of his travel to Zaria, where he was scheduled to attend the Depot NA’s Passing Out Parade on Saturday, May 22, 2021.
It is important to note that the Chief of Defense Staff (CDS), the Honorable Minister of Defense (HMOD), and the president are informed in advance when service chiefs are moving out of station (to Abuja).
Thus, what made the meeting timetable coincide with the late COAS’s expected departure or arrival in Kaduna, and why was it insisted upon that he (the COAS) not be represented?
In any event, the COS told me that they would be leaving the Flag House, the COAS’s official house, for the airport at around 1530 hours, having attended the meeting and the Jummu’ at prayers.
“They planned to get to the airport around 1600 hours, board the plane between 1610 and 1615 hours, and fly to Kaduna.” I was notified that they had reached the airport’s Presidential Wing at around 1600 hours. After that, I departed in a convoy with my group from Stallion House, the GOC’s official house, and we arrived at the Air Force Base at around 1615.
“The flight was delayed for more than an hour and did not take off until approximately 1730 hours for reasons that I do not understand to this day. I was informed that there was a problem with the aircraft that was first designated for the mission (to transport the COAS and his and that it had to be changed.”
Additionally, Ali-Keffi revealed, “In the interim, there was a weather advisory advising that Kaduna airspace will see strong winds and heavy precipitation in conjunction with the storm. We could see the cloud forming at the airport; it was already apparent in Kaduna.
In fact, the clouds were so heavy that they suggested a strong storm. I started to have reservations about the flight. When Air Commodore Iyamu and Air Commodore Ilo arrived with me to accept the COAS, I eventually expressed my worries to them.
“I even proposed that they notify Abuja about the weather so that the flight may be canceled. That’s when I found out the airplane was in the air (about 1745 hours). When the rain started to pour, I started to worry about whether the plane would be able to land at the airport in such a severe storm.
Therefore, I did not take offense when Air Commodore Ilo told me that we needed to head to the Civil (International Airport) since the NAF runway was too long to allow the aircraft to land in the terrible weather. After that, we headed for the international airport, but we moved slowly because of the intense rain and shale (little pieces of ice).
“There was a thunderous sound, which I thought was the sound of thunder,” stated the former GOC. “We got to the vicinity of the airport.” I think that the airplane that was descending to land on the runway was what we had previously said. I thought to myself that the plane had landed and was taxing to the parking area as we rounded the bend to access the tarmac.
There were no planes visible to me on the runway. There was a flame near the far side of the runway as I anxiously looked about. That was the plane that was carrying General Attahiru! We exited the cars, went across the runway, and got up close to the flaming plane. To extinguish the fire, firefighters were on the scene.
We had to retreat at one point because we were afraid the cylinders might blow up.
The bodies of the ten people on the tragic aircraft were eventually found, some distance away from the wreckage. Their burning bodies were apparently thrown off the airplane before it crashed (already in flames). Moreover, the aircraft—or what remained of it, anyway—was situated on a somewhat level meadow, at least from what I could recall.
“A crater did not exist. This was a sign of an explosion in midair. What, then, led to the airplane blowing up? What is stated about the event in the report by the Air Safety and Accident Investigation Bureau intrigues me.
“Was the flight intentionally delayed in order to be caught up in the rainstorm?” inquired Ali-Keffi further. Was there a sabotage on the airplane that resulted in the midair explosion? Did explosives trigger the explosion? Was there a bomb put on the plane or in a package that a passenger may have taken on purpose or accidentally?