The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has accused the government of attempting to hide the truth about the frequent military plane crashes in Nigeria.
It said the federal government has failed to investigate the causes of the crashes because it doesn’t want to be accountable to Nigerians.
The National Coordinator of HURIWA, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko made the submissions in an interview with Daily Post in which he reacted to the crash of a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Alpha jet in Zamfara State after it came under attack from bandits in the area.
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Anaedoonline.ng recalls after the news of the crash broke on Sunday, NAF spokesperson, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet in his immediate reaction said he didn’t have any information about a plane crash in Kaduna but was awaiting information from other locations.
However, on Monday, Gabkwet released an update in which he acknowledged a plane crash in Zamfara State without any human casualty as the pilot ejected and escaped to safety.
Reacting to the development, HURIWA, said the “Spokesman of the Nigerian Air Force decided not to tell Nigerians the truth. Newsmen reported that there was a plane crash and the Air Force spokesman told another newspaper that it was not true.
“And in that same story where he was trying to deny the plane crash, he also said he was awaiting further instructions.
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“So why did he go ahead to deny there was a plane crash if he was not even completely abreast with what happened. So what we’re saying is this, this is how impunity has destroyed Nigeria.
“If a government official is supposed to carry out a mandate and he refuses or fails to do that if he is guilty of dereliction of duty, there is punishment for that.
“There are punishments for dishonesty, for lying to the public. This man yesterday said there was no plane crash and today he said there was a plane crash and there’s no accountability.”
Speaking further, Onwubiko said the government has deliberately refused to investigate previous crashes so as to hide the truth from Nigerians.
He also questioned why the government seems to be afraid of telling the truth.
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According to him, “The reason for these plane crashes is because of deliberate efforts on the part of the government not to investigate the causes of the crashes. There’s deliberate effort to hide the truth.
“And why is the government afraid of the truth? The truth must prevail. The Spokesman of the Air Force that wanted to deceive Nigerians by denying there was a plane crash should be moved away from that beat because he has failed.
“Unless he did what his boss told him to do, and if it was his boss that made him try to deceive Nigerians, it means he doesn’t have respect for Nigerians and he should apologize.”
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