Presidential aide,Reno Omokri, says crashed helicopter did not make 15 trips

Reno Omokri said the allegation about the helicopter’s trips were false.

The Special Adviser to the Nigerian President on new media, Reno Omokri, has dismissed allegations that the naval helicopter which crashed on Saturday made 15 trips before it crashed.

The crash occurred in Okoroba, Bayelsa State, killing six persons including former Governor of Kaduna, Patrick Yakowa; and former National Security Adviser, Owoeye Azazi.

Mr. Omokri stated this on his twitter handle on Tuesday as he fielded questions regarding the crash from members of the twitter social media space.

“A blatant lie! It takes 40 minutes to fly from PH to Okoroba, if it did 15 trips that is over 12 hours, does that make sense?” Mr. Omokri said.

He said that some of the guests at the funeral could attest to his claims that the helicopter did not make15 trips to and fro Bayelsa and Port Harcourt.

“There were people there physically including Clergy, activists and community leaders who can attest that that story is FALSE!” he said.

A senior naval officer had told The PUNCH Newspapers that the helicopter was probably over-worked as it was made available to commute guests to the burial ceremony.

“One thing I can say is that it was going on its 15th trip when it crashed. I cannot say whether this could affect the performance of the helicopter,” the naval source, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak, said.

Also, a spokesman for the Navy, Emmanuel Ogbo, had debunked claims that the helicopter was not air-worthy.

Mr. Ogbo, a Rear Admiral, said the helicopter had just undergone a routine maintenance on November 19 and had over 80 hours flight time before the next routine maintenance.