Senate Probes Military Helicopters’ Use

Posted by admin Legislature, Senate Sunday, December 23rd, 2012

The Senate has resolved to probe the use of military Helicopters.
The resolution followed a motion sponsored by Senator Chris Anyanwu, titled Urgent need to investigate the recent crash of Naval Augusta 109 Helicopter in Bayelsa State.
The upper chamber further resolved that the results of past investigation into air mishaps should be made public.
During the debate, Senators raised issues on the incessant and wrong use of military helicopters and called for a regulatory framework to ensure that military equipment are not indiscriminately used for personal reasons.
Presenting the motion, Sen Chris Anyanwu noted that between 2007 and 2011 there had been two crashes of similar Augusta Helicopters owned by the Navy at different locations in the countr,y adding that the causes of these crashes each time remain unknown to the public.
She said a deep “seated systems problem must be unearthed and resolved to avert further unnecessary loss of lives and heavy financial losses to the nation.”
In his contribution, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu who presided over the session Condoled with all those affected in the crash and noted that Nigeria has lost so much human resources in recent times
His words “I think we have recorded so much death in this country over the last two years. Since 2010 when terrorism reared its ugly head in Nigeria. And since then we have had several deaths arising from terrorism, kidnapping, arm robbery, diseases pollution accidents, road mishaps, air mishaps and other kinds of incidents that have afflicted us over the years.”
These are ordinary Nigerians. The truth is people are dying on a daily basis in this country which is very regrettable. I believe in the last two years we have lost over 50,000 people.
“So this calls for all of us as leaders of this country to halt this trend. “I think that our regulatory agencies need to wake up and ensure that only air worthy planes should take off and land in this country and for the pilots to be properly trained. And of course a lot of people have died because of security lapses. We need to also wake because the protection of live and property is the main responsibility of government”, Ekweremadu added.
In a tear-ladden voice, Senator Ahmed Markarfi, said the crash calls for the executive, which has a lot of resources, to ensure that measures are in place to avert the continuous loss of lives in Nigeria.
Senators Barnabas Gemade, Ganiyu Solomon, Abdul Ningi, Olubunmi Adetumbi and Uche Chukwumerije warned against the use of military equipment, especially helicopters for private purpose and called for a stop to the indiscriminate use of military choppers by very important persons.
Sen. Abdul Ningi said, “we have to put our acts together to regulate the use of government’s military hardwares.”

Via Tidewp_posts