- By Halimah Olamide
“Be informed that no helicopter crash occurred. Instead, a NAF Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) experienced a mishap after take-off for a mission, at a location near Rumji Village and about 15 Km from Base.
The Nigeria Air Force on Monday said none its helicopter crashed in Tami Village Kaduina state on Monday.
Rather, the Air Force said what crashed was one of its Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) which was on a surveillance assignment.
According to Air Vice Marshall Edward Gabkwet, Director of Air Force Information and Public Relations, this was against media reports which said one of NAF’s planes crashed with no casualty.
“Be informed that no helicopter crash occurred. Instead, a NAF Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) experienced a mishap after take-off for a mission, at a location near Rumji Village and about 15 Km from Base. Since it is an unmanned vehicle, there were no casualties on board or on ground,” Gabkwet said.
He added that preliminary investigation has since commenced to ascertain what may have caused the mishap.
“Nigerians can be rest assured that this minor setback will not, in anyway, impinge on all ongoing operations.
“It should also be pointed out that the propensity to always rush to press in the name of ‘breaking news’ without a hold of the complete facts should be discouraged in its entirety.
“While the news of the crash filtered in, some outlets had misinformed Nigerians that a helicopter had crashed without the decency to clarify from the NAF.
“This attitude should be discouraged as it negates the principle of developmental journalism, balanced reporting and fairness. Members of the media are again advised to always seek clarification from authorized military outlets before rushing to ‘break’ the news.”