3 perish in Nigerian Air Force helicopter crash

Four days after a Nige­rian Air Force helicop­ter crashed in Damare, close to the camp of In­ternally Displaced Persons in Girei Local Government Area of Adamawa State, another military helicopter crashed on Thursday night at Sangere, killing all crew members.
Eyewitnesses said the helicopter crashed around 10pm.
Sangere is also in Girei Local Government Area, and is a few kilometers from the site of the first crash.
The recent crash caused pandemonium in Yola, the state capital ,and its environs as students on campus, off campus and residents of Sangere, where the crash occurred scampered for safety believing that Boko Haram had launched an offensive.
Resident said that they panicked when they heard the explosions and the belch of fire and smoke that followed.
Describing the events leading to the crash, Hey Ibrahim Ali, a resident of Hayin Kada Village near Yola, told our reporter, “We saw the helicopter hovering, later, we heard the sound of the helicopter suddenly changed. It started going down and then we heard a loud sound, followed by explosions. So we started running into the bush.”
He said villagers went to the crash site on Friday morning and security officials cordoned it off.
Confirming the story, the defence headquaters said the crash, involving a ground attack helicopter on an armed patrol crashed “at 2200hours” on Thursday around the Federal University of Technology, Yola, Adamawa State.
“The crew of three was lost in the ill-fated accident,” it said.
“Rescue party worked throughout the night to preserve the wreckage of the aircraft and the scene of the accident for proper investigation to be carried out. Further details would be made known later.”
Meanwhile, the hunters and Civilian JTF, who recaptured the town from the insurgents have arrested the leader of the Boko Haram gang in Mubi, “Amir” of Boko Haram in Mubi.
Following the recapture of Mubi, many of the insurgents fled to Gombi and Hong local governments of the state, where they tried to launch a reprisal attacks on another two communities. This sparked another round of firepower between local hunters and the insurgents.
A sources from Gombi and Hong local governments disclosed that the fleeing insurgents launched attacks on many places leading to the death of about five persons in Hong. The insurgents also destroyed a prison in Gombi and set the inmates free while they razed a police station.