The partner of Flight Lieutenant I.S. Bako, Joanna Yakubu, has mourned the co-pilot after he was among 25 Nigerian Air Force personnel killed in the crash of a NAF aircraft in the swamps of Igbokoda, Ondo State.
Yakubu shared an emotional post on TikTok in which she recalled her final conversation with Bako.
She said Bako had told her he was travelling to Abuja, without suggesting that the journey would be his last.
“It actually Abuja you told me you are going to and you didn’t mention you will not come back. You left me,” she captioned the post.
The aircraft was carrying five crew members and 20 passengers when it crashed, with no survivors found.
The NAF released the names of the 25 personnel killed in the crash on Tuesday.
In a statement, Ehimen Ejodame, NAF director of public relations and information, said Sunday Aneke, chief of air staff (CAS), described the crash as a deeply painful moment for the air force and the country.
Ejodame said the aircraft was conducting a routine mission from Benin to Lagos when the crash occurred.
President Bola Tinubu subsequently declared three days of national mourning for the personnel who lost their lives.
“This is a painful moment for our Armed Forces and for the entire nation,” Tinubu said in a condolence message to the chief of air staff and officers, airmen and airwomen of the air force.
“Our Air Force personnel put their lives on the line every day to secure Nigeria, and their sacrifice will never be forgotten.”