Anambra declares three-day mourning for Army Chief, others

The Anambra State Government has declared a three-day mourning period for the Chief of the Army Staff, Lt General Ibrahim Attahiru, and some other officers and soldiers who died in the plane crash of Friday, May 21, 2021, at Kaduna Airport.

“Consequently, Governor Willie Obiano has directed that the state flag fly at half-mast in all public facilities in Anambra State from Monday, May 25 to Wednesday, May 27, 2021,” the State Commissioner for Information & Public Enlightenment, C. Don Adinuba, said Saturday in a statement.

“The mourning,” according to him, “is in appreciation of the role of the Nigerian Armed Forces in bringing about peace, stability and order in the country as a whole and in Anambra State in particular. Together with the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Security, Nigeria Civil Defence and Security Corps and Anambra Vigilante Group, the Armed Forces have played a huge role in making Anambra the most peaceful and the safest state in Nigeria in the last seven years, despite the security breaches of the past few months. Officers and men of the Armed Forces patrol are to this day patrolling streets, towns and villages of the state, especially troubled parts, both day and night.

“As a result of the safe and peaceful environment, Anambra State has in the last couple of years attracted huge investments. The state has recorded investments worth between four and five billion dollars ($4-5bn), creating products and services as well as direct and indirect employment in various sectors.”

Continuing, the statement said: “The people and Government have always been proud of their relationship with the Nigerian Armed Forces. We are proud that the first university graduate to join the Nigerian Army, Dim Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, was a worthy son of the state. Despite being the son of Nigeria’s wealthiest man in the 1950s and despite obtaining a master’s degree in Modern History from Oxford University, Dim Ojukwu joined the Army as a noncommissioned officer and rose through the ranks.

“The people and Government of Anambra State recognize that military duties are sacrificial, carried out to serve the public good. In the imitable language of the Holy Book, “no love is greater than that a man should lay down his life for the benefit of others” (John 15: 13).”