Surveillance Aircraft to Arrive End of July, Says Oyo

The Oyo State Commissioner for Information, Mr Dotun Oyelade, has said the two surveillance aircraft procured by the state government would arrive by the end of July.

Oyelade, in a statement on Thurday in Ibadan, said that the two DA 42 MNG Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance aircraft were procured at the cost of N7.7 billion.

The commissioner stated that the two aircraft, DA 42 MNG Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) would cover the borders of Oyo with Kwara and Republic of Benin.

He explained that it was the desire of the state government to take delivery of the two aircraft much earlier, “but the assembly of the components by the Chinese manufacturers took longer than originally anticipated”.

Oyelade recalled that two days after the Oriire incident, two months ago, government issued a statement to confirm the arrival of the aircraft at the Nigerian Air Force hangar in Ikeja, Lagos State.

The commissioner added that Governor Seyi Makinde would have loved  the two surveillance aircraft to participate in the rescue  operation during the Oriire incident.

“But the final decision to make the aircraft operational was not in the hands of the governor, as the state government had to depend on the professional and technical advice of the Chinese manufacturers,” the commissioner stated. (NAN)