Niger plane crash: Pilot buried in Zaria

The remains of Flight Lieutenant Ibrahim Adamu Abubakar, Pilot of the Nigerian Air Force MI-171 Jet that crashed in Niger State was laid to rest on Tuesday.

He was buried in Zaria, Kaduna State, after a prayer conducted at Haruna Danja Jumma’at mosque, Tudun Wada, Zaria.

The prayer was led by the Chief Imam of the mosque, Sheikh Muhammad Sani Gumi and attended by family members and hundreds of mourners.

The family of the late pilot had earlier performed a proxy funeral prayer (Salatul Gha’ib) for the deceased at Tudun Jukun, Zaria.

The elder brother of the deceased, Abubakar Adamu, explained that the family had earlier performed a proxy funeral prayer for the deceased when they could not receive the corpse.

He explained, “Such prayer in Islam is called Salatul Gha’ib and it is observed when the corpse of a deceased is not found; as relatives, we have a religious burden to perform the prayer with or without the corpse.”

Adamu said that now that the corpse had been discovered, it was also mandatory to perform another funeral prayer for the deceased.

He explained that the family was in serious shock and grief but later became optimistic that the late pilot was blessed with Shahada that could fetch him Aljanna (heaven) in the hereafter as he died in the cause to liberate his people and the country as a whole.

Hajiya A’ishatu Adams, the mother of the deceased, said her son was a “Hafiz” (one who memorized the Holy Qur’an) and was always calm and quiet.

She said that her prayer is to seek for Allah’s mercy on him to repose his soul in Jannatul Firdausi.