President Muhammadu Buhari has offered his condolences to the Indian government and families of victims who died in the crash that killed the country’s Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Bipin Rawat.
An Indian air force helicopter had crashed and killed the defence chief, General Bipin Rawat, and 12 others after losing contact with air traffic control seven minutes before it was supposed to land.
Rawat, 63, his wife and 11 army and air force personnel on board were killed in the crash on Wednesday.
Air Force Captain Varun Singh, the only survivor, is on life support at a military hospital.
Meanwhile, President Buhari, in a message to the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on Thursday, described the deaths as great losses to the Indian military, the nation and the affected families.
A statement by the president’s spokesman, Garba Shehu, in Abuja quoted the Nigerian leader as saying that the late Chief of Defence Staff was widely credited with the reform of the Indian armed forces and the security apparatuses.
Buhari was quoted as saying, “On behalf of myself, the government and people of Nigeria, I convey to you our deepest condolences, to the Rawat family, the families of the deceased as well as the Indian Military and nation as you mourn the Chief of Defence Staff, his wife and 11 other fine crop of officers.”
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Rawat was India’s first chief of defence staff, a position that the government established in 2019, and was seen as close to prime minister Modi.
