Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, Nigeria’s Chief of the Air Staff, has said forensic investigations on the NAF aircraft that crashed in Shiroro, Niger State, will have to wait until analyses are completed abroad.

Abubakar said this in an interview televised by TVC on Wednesday.

When asked about ongoing investigations, he said, “Investigation has started but has not been finished. Luckily, we were able to recover the voice recorder, the flight’s recorder, and they are all in very good shape.”

“They were not affected by the crash. We have recovered them but we don’t have the facility in Nigeria that can actually decipher the content. So, we have to send them out to the original manufacturers to get an analysis of the contents.

“Until that is done, we have already sent them out, until they come back with the analysis, then we will be able to conclude on the findings. So, until then, we won’t be able to say exactly what happened.”

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On August 13, no less than 14 Nigerian soldiers were killed in a terrorist ambush in Niger State’s Zungeru-Kagara area. Air force, naval and army officials sent to evacuate them were also killed in a helicopter crash in the Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State on August 16.

These were separate incidents that led to casualties the armed forces referred to as a great loss. The officers killed were promising, highly trained and experienced soldiers.

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The circumstances surrounding the helicopter crash have remained unclear. While some reports claimed that the aircraft crashed, others alleged terrorists shot it down.

Nigeria’s military has not released a statement to resolve the controversy, and it is unclear if the results of its investigations will be made public.