What would have been the second military air disaster in a row has been averted as some farmers scampered to safety, following an emergency landing of a Nigerian Air Force Helicopter making an emergency landing in one of the farms in Makurdi metropolis on Wednesday.
An eyewitness said that while farmers were working, they saw an aircraft coming down near them and had to scamper for safety before it finally landed in the maize farm at Utur Tse-Igboji, Bar Council Ward, Makurdi Local Government, along Welfare Quarters.
Villagers’ accounts further indicate that the emergency landing on the farmland could have been due to a technical fault, as they rushed to the scene of the incident to support the officers on board, all of whom came out alive.
One of the eyewitnesses, Mr Stephen Ikpam, who was at Utur, Tse-Igboji, Makurdi, at the scene of the incident, thanked God for the lives of the officers, assuring support for security forces within their communities as and when needed.
At the moment, efforts to get the Police Public Relations Officer, Benue Command, and the Nigerian Air Force in Makurdi to confirm the incident proved abortive, as neither responded to messages at the time of filing this report.
