President
of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, has
called for a thorough probe into helicopter crash that killed Kaduna
State Governor Patrick Yakowa and ex-National Security Adviser Andrew
Azazi in Bayelsa State on Saturday.
He also warned the government not to sweep the report of its probe panel under the carpet.
Oritsejafor, who spoke in Kaduna on Tuesday through
CAN Secretary-General Musa Asake, pledged the association’s support for
the investigation into the crash.
He insisted that the report of the probe should not go the way of previous probe reports when submitted.
According to the him, the group is solidly behind the
government on the probe but “we are calling on the Federal Government
that if the report is submitted, it should please act on it”.
He said, “CAN supports the Federal Government for
setting up a panel of investigation. We support it and we are looking
forward to the report. But we have heard of panels of investigation
being set up and reports submitted in the country.
“We hope and pray that the Federal Government will
release the report of this one and take action. The Federal Government
should please this time around release the report of this crash. It is
not just setting up the panel, we want an outcome of the panel.”
Oritsejafor added, “Our advice to politicians and
every human being is that they should take a day at a time and work with
their God because you never can tell. You leave and say you are going
somewhere and you may not come back. You will be appearing before God.
Lets work with God, lets fear God, lets do what will bring happiness to
those that elected us.”
He prayed for the new governor for success to carry the state to greater heights.
Asake said, “We were shocked, if there is anything
more than shock, we will use that word. We were not prepared for it. We
are here representing our President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, who is out
of the country at this very moment.
“He has asked us to come to greet the family and the
people of Kaduna State to tell them that it is only God who can comport
us. And so to the family we want to say our God is able and He will
comfort them. To the people of Kaduna State, the Lord gave us Yakowa,
the Lord has taken Yakowa.
“We welcome the new governor and promise to pray with
him so that the Lord will give him success. We are so happy to hear
that he is going to follow in the footsteps of the late governor. We
pray that the Lord will help him to do exactly what he has said.”
Meanwhile, a Southern Kaduna group has alleged contradictions in the cause of the helicopter crash.
The Concerned Southern Kaduna Professionals, a body
of civil servants, lecturers, military officers and technocrats made the
allegation in a statement.
The group said the differing versions of how the
crash occurred “is a source of concern to us as well as the incoherent
account surrounding how Yakowa and Dauda Tsoho boarded the helicopter,
having not initially been scheduled to be on it”.
It added, “We wonder how Yakowa boarded the crashed
helicopter without two other aides with whom they travelled together
from Kaduna to Bayelsa.”
In the statement by Dr. Kyari Yates and Dr. John
Danfulani, Chairman and Secretary respectively, the group noted that
based on eyewitness accounts, the chopper took off, steadied then
started wobbling until it crashed.
It said, “To think that this also happened in a tight
and secured area with police and security operatives is nothing but
mysterious and demands serious consideration.”
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