Details of how former FCT police commissioner and newly-promoted deputy inspector general of police, John Haruna and three others died in Jos emerged last night.
A member of the Kabong community in Jos North local government area of Plateau State, where the crash occurred, Mr. Solomon Achis, said the helicopter, which came down around 11am, appeared to have developed a serious engine problem mid air.
Achis said, “We saw the helicopter going up and down as if it was being pursued by some forces. It made some unusual noise as it was struggling to gain stability but to no avail.”
Achis said that the cranky sounds emanating from the engine of the ill-fated helicopter aroused suspicion that all was not well with it and that they were not surprised when it suddenly crashed.
“It was making noise and coming too close to the ground, then it fell into a building and caught fire in the process,” the witness said.
He noted that the helicopter would have landed on a mother and her baby, but the woman managed to run to safety just before the helicopter fell.
He said the crash destroyed three houses in the area and would have caused more havoc but for the timely intervention of the youths, who mobilized to extinguish the fire with detergent and sand.
DIG Haruna, who was patrolling the crisis-torn Jos, was returning to Abuja when the helicopter crashed and killed him along with chief superintendent Alexander Pwol-Ja, Sgt. Sonatiam Shirunam and Assistant Commissioner Garba Yalwa, the helicopter's pilot.
Police spokesman Yemi Ajayi confirmed the accident.
The spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Mr. Yushau Shuaib, said the helicopter crashed into homes but that no one in the community was hurt.
The director general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren, also confirmed the crash of the helicopter which, he said, belonged to the Nigeria Police.
However, Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) spokesman Mr. Tunji Oketunbi said the AIB did not have the authority to investigate accidents involving the military and the police.
Men of the Plateau State Fire Service managed to put out the fire while the bodies of the police officers were taken to an unnamed mortuary in the state.
In a swift reaction, President Goodluck Jonathan described the death of the officers as unfortunate and a setback to the country.
Speaking through his special adviser on media and publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the president regretted that the incident took the lives of the officers at a time the nation was exploring ways of containing rising security threats in the country.
"President Jonathan commiserates with the families of the bereaved and the Police High Command, and urges them to take consolation in the fact that these fine officers died in the course of national assignment.
“The president prayed that Almighty God will accept the souls of the deceased and grant the nation the fortitude to bear this national loss," Abati stated.
Senate president David Mark, in his condolence message, said the death of the officers was a painful loss to the nation, and condoled with the inspector-general of Police over the tragic incident.
He said: “My heart goes to the families of the bereaved. This is one sad loss too many. These officers died in active service in their resolve to secure the citizens of Nigeria.
“It behoves on the living, therefore, to exercise restraint and halt these unabated outbursts and violence. We should be guided by the lessons of history that only peaceful co-existence, love for one another can guarantee development,” he said. “The only thing we can do to ensure that they did not die in vain is to continue to live in peace and harmony with one another. There are many more benefits by being our brothers’ keeper.”
The speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, described the death of the officers as painful, especially as they died in search of solution to the nation’s security challenges.
In a statement by his media adviser, Mr. Imam Imam, Tambuwal called for proper investigation into the cause of the crash.
"They were gallant officers who met their deaths while searching for lasting solution to the myriad security challenges confronting the country in general, and Plateau State in particular.
"I wish to condole with the inspector-general of police and the immediate families of the officers who lost their lives in the crash. We in the House of Representatives, like other Nigerians, are proud of their efforts," the speaker said.
Former vice president Atiku Abubakar described the late John Haruna as one of the most dedicated police officers he has ever known and admired.
The former vice president said he was particularly touched by the fact that the late DIG Haruna was directly responsible for his security whenever he (Atiku) visited Lagos when he was Nigeria’s vice president.
As a deputy police commissioner in Lagos at that time, the late Haruna had always discharged his duties diligently, said Atiku. “There are people who come into your life and touch it immediately. John Haruna was one of such people,” Atiku stated.
“The late DIG John Haruna died at a critical time when his services were most needed. At the time he lost his life, John Haruna was on an official mission to Jos as the head of police operations activities. His death couldn’t have come at a worse time when Nigeria needed his skills and services to tackle the current grim security challenges”
Plateau State governor Jonah Jang, in his reaction, said the officers’ death was a colossal loss to the state and Nigeria.
Jang recalled his meeting with the late Haruna two days earlier and what he discussed with him on how to bring about peace in the area.
The governor said the late DIG was a professional officer, whose commitment to peace and development of the country was legendary.
Enugu State governor Sullivan Chime expressed sadness over the untimely death of DIG Haruna John and others in their search for peace in the country.
Chime, in a statement signed by his chief press secretary, Chukwudi Achife, described the incident as a great tragedy to the police force and the nation in general.
Benue State governor Gabriel Suswam described the death of Haruna and other officers in the crash as a national tragedy that required urgent investigations.
“This is a great national tragedy, a big loss not only to the police force but the whole country,” Suswam said in a statement by his media adviser, Dr. Cletus Akwaya.
The untimely death of this gentleman has renewed the imperative for peace in Plateau and indeed other parts of the country where the activities of Boko Haram have posed a major national security challenge,” the governor added.
In his condolence message, the minister of interior, Comrade Abba Moro, described the late Haruna as a big loss to the nation and its people.
He said in a statement by his special assistant, Mr. Sunday Orinya, that the late police chief left an indelible imprint in the nation’s security circles.
Former commissioner of police for Lagos State, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, described the late Haruna John as a police officer who was highly professional in the discharge of his duties.
Tsav said the death of the officers had created a vacuum in the police force that would be difficult to fill.
Jos had long been a religious flashpoint before finding relative calm over the last year. After a suicide car-bombing last Sunday in a Catholic church killed four people and wounded 38, many fear religious violence will again take hold of the area. Already, by Sunday night, six more people had died in retaliatory violence, despite a strong military presence in the city.
No group claimed responsibility for the bombing although blame fell on the radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram, which has targeted the city before. The sect claimed a series of bombings in Jos on Christmas Eve in 2010 that killed as many as 80 people. The sect also claimed a similar church bombing on Feb. 26 on the main headquarters of the Church of Christ that killed three people and wounded 38 others.
Even before the sect attacks, Jos and surrounding areas in Plateau State had been torn apart by communal violence pitting its different ethnic groups and major religions — Christianity and Islam — against each other. Human Rights Watch has said at least 1,000 people were killed in communal clashes around Jos in 2010.
Meanwhile, minister of police affairs Capt. Caleb Olubolade (rtd) and the IGP Mohammed Abubakar were among the early callers at the residence of the late DIG Haruna John at Jabi, Abuja on Wednesday.
The minister who condoled with John's widow assured that the government would assist the family during the burial of the departed officer.
Abubakar also pledged the support of the force for the family at this trying period.
Two portraits of John along with a condolence register were placed on a table in front of the house.
Senior and junior officers, who also besieged the home of the deceased officer, were seen wearing long faces just as other relations and neighbours commiserated with the bereaved family. The children of the deceased declined interview requests from journalists.
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