Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s helicopter made an emergency landing in Abuja last Thursday owing to engine failure, the chaplain of Aso Villa Chapel, Pastor Seyi Malomo, has revealed.

Malomo revealed this after a thanksgiving service held in Abuja yesterday to praise God for sparing Osinbajo.

The session was attended by senior pastors from the Redeem Christian Church of God as well as leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria.

The helicopter, which conveyed Osinbajo to the 2018 graduation ceremony of the Senior Division Course 1 of the Nigeria Customs Command and Staff College, Gwagwalada, Abuja, had made an emergency landing after takeoff.

The helicopter emitted thick smoke as it made an emergency landing minutes after takeoff. The incident then made the vice president return to the Presidential Villa by road.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Mr Laolu Akande, had, via Twitter, merely cited technical reasons. But the Aso Villa chaplain, who led the thanksgiving service yesterday, revealed: “Last week, we received the news with shock that the vice president’s helicopter engine failed and we thank God that God preserved him.

“The preservation of the leaders is the preservation of the nation and as a result, we want to thank God. So, this programme was organised to thank God for his watchful eyes over our leaders, over our nation and more particularly, over the deliverance for the vice president.” (Daily Trust)