Unmanned Military Drone, Not Helicopter Crashed In Kaduna – NAF Says
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), on Monday, July 1, 2024, said that its Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) popularly known as drone, crashed in Kaduna and not its helicopter as earlier reported.
This was contained in a statement by AVM Edward Gabkwet, Director, Public Relations and Information of the NAF, in which he said that contrary to reports on social media as well as on a handful of traditional media outlets that a NAF helicopter crashed in Kaduna in the early hours of Monday, July 1, be informed that no helicopter crash occurred.
In the words of AVM Gabkwet; “Instead, a NAF Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) experienced a mishap after take-off for a mission at a location near Rumji village and about 15 Km from Base.
“Since it is an unmanned vehicle, there were no casualties on board or on ground,” he said.
Gabkwet further said that preliminary investigation had since commenced to ascertain what might have caused the mishap and assured Nigerians that the minor setback would not, in anyway, impinge on all ongoing operations.
The NAF stressed that it should also be pointed out that the propensity to always rush to press in the name of ‘breaking news’ without a hold of the complete facts should be discouraged in its entirety.
“While the news of the crash filtered in, some outlets had misinformed Nigerians that a helicopter had crashed without the decency to clarify from the NAF.
“This attitude should be discouraged as it negates the principle of developmental journalism, balanced reporting and fairness. Members of the media are again advised to always seek clarification from authorised military outlets before rushing to ‘break’ the news,” he said.
