Helicopter crash kills Nigerian state governor - source | Reuters
(Reuters) - The governor of Nigeria's Kaduna state and a former national security adviser were among six killed when a helicopter crashed in the southerly oil-producing Bayelsa state on Saturday, the ruling political party and emergency services said.
The helicopter wobbled in the sky before nose-diving into a forest in Ogbia Creek at around 3:30 p.m. (1430 GMT), a local resident who witnessed the crash told Reuters.
"By the time we got to the scene it was in flames," said Hitler Adunion, a local community leader.
"We tried to put them out but it was difficult. We saw the roasted bodies of those inside," he added.
The Nigerian Navy confirmed that its Agusta helicopter had crashed while carrying VIPs to Port Harcourt.
The National Emergency Management Agency said it had recovered the dead bodies of six passengers on board.
Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa won a tight vote last year to become Kaduna state's first Christian governor under the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) ticket. He replaced Namadi Sambo, who is now vice president.
"Our great party is shocked beyond imagination and no words can adequately give expression to the depth of our grief," a PDP statement said, confirming the governor's death.
The 36 state governors are among the most powerful politicians in Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, often controlling budgets bigger than those of many African countries.
The PDP statement also said that General Owoye Azazi, a former national security adviser, had been killed in the crash along with "other prominent Nigerians".
Azazi had been a close adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan but was sacked this year as Nigeria struggled to cope with an Islamist insurgency in the north.
Several high-profile politicians had travelled to Bayelsa, Jonathan's home state, this weekend for a funeral, local residents said. Jonathan himself was not in Bayelsa at the time of the crash, the presidency said.
Like many African countries, Nigeria has a poor air safety record.
Nigeria's deputy police chief and three other officers were killed when a helicopter crashed in the central city of Jos in March.
In June, a passenger plane crashed into a densely populated part of Lagos, Nigeria's commercial hub, killing 163 people.
(Additional reporting by Isaac Abrak, Camillus Eboh and Segun Owen; Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Kevin Liffey)