Lt General Ibrahim Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff has died in a plane crash with some of his aides.

Military source said Gen. Attahiru was on a trip to Kaduna. Efforts were on to locate the wreckage of the plane and evacuate remains of the victims.

His mission to Kaduna was said to be “official.”

The PUNCH learnt that the ill-fated aircraft crashed at the airport’s runway about 6 pm.

Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria, Akin Olateru, confirmed that the eight souls died onboard.

“Beachcraft 350. 8 souls on board. Unfortunately all dead,” Olateru said.

The Nigerian Air Force confirmed that there was an accident involving one of its aircraft in Kaduna but did not provide details.

“An air crash involving a Nigeria Air Force aircraft occurred this evening near the Kaduna International Airport. The immediate cause of the crash is still being ascertained. More details to follow soon,” the NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Edward Gabkwet, said in a statement.

At least 17 military officers have lost their lives in the last three months in three crashes involving Nigerian Air Force jets.

On Wednesday, March 31, 2021, NAF spokesman, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, said an Alpha-Jet aircraft involved in the anti-terror war against Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province lost radar contact in Borno State.

Two officers were onboard the missing jet which was later declared crashed and the whereabouts of the two airmen unknown till date. Punch.