Group Seeks Independent Probe Into Air Force Crash That Killed 32
A call has gone out to President Bola Tinubu, the Minister of Defence and the Chief of the Air Staff to order an independent, high-level investigation into the circumstances that led to the deaths of 32 officers, crew members and family members of the Nigerian Air Force.
The appeal was made by Hon. Suleiman Talba, who argued that the tragedy deserves the same level of official scrutiny as the Niger State mining accident that claimed 37 lives a few weeks earlier.
In a statement, Talba recalled that the Federal Government responded swiftly to the mining disaster by setting up a high-powered panel to establish what went wrong and to recommend sanctions where negligence was found. He described that action as correct and just, saying it showed that the government places value on every Nigerian life and that negligence must attract consequences wherever it occurs.
He contended that the same standard should now apply to the Air Force incident, in which gallant men and women in service to the nation, along with innocent family members, lost their lives in painful circumstances.
"If the death of 37 miners — private citizens engaged in economic activity — could justifiably attract a high-powered Federal Government investigative panel, then surely the death of 32 military personnel and their families in active service deserves no less," he said. "In fact, it deserves even more."
Talba posed a series of questions he said must be answered: What caused the tragedy? Was there negligence? Did maintenance, supervision or institutional oversight fail? Could it have been prevented? He insisted these questions should not be buried under the guise of military routine or closed-door internal inquiries.
He noted that the Nigerian Armed Forces is one of the country's most respected institutions, and that its credibility depends not only on its combat strength but also on transparency and accountability to Nigerians, particularly when lives are lost.
According to him, a public, high-level independent panel for the Air Force incident, similar to the one constituted for the Niger miners, would achieve three objectives.
First, he said, it would honour the dead, because the fallen officers and their families deserve more than condolences and burial ceremonies — they deserve the truth.
Second, it would protect the living by identifying systemic gaps and preventing a recurrence, adding that the lives of other serving personnel may depend on it.
Third, he argued, it would strengthen public trust, since selective justice breeds suspicion while uniform justice builds national confidence. Nigerians, he said, must see that every life — whether that of a miner or a military officer — matters equally to the state.
Talba urged the President and Commander-in-Chief, the Minister of Defence and the Chief of the Air Staff to treat the constitution of the panel as a matter of urgent national importance. He said the panel should be empowered to invite all relevant parties, audit all necessary records and recommend firm sanctions where negligence is established.
"What is good for the goose is indeed good for the gander," he said. "If we could do it for 37 miners in Niger, we must do it for 32 fallen heroes and their families. Justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done — uniformly and without fear or favour."
He ended with a prayer for the repose of the souls of all the departed.
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