Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State has expressed sadness over the tragic end of Governor Patrick Yakowa and immediate past National Security Adviser, General Andrew Owoeye Azazi, while however attributing their death to the will of God.

Yakowa and Azazi were among the six persons that perished in a naval plane crash late yesterday afternoon in the swamps of Okoroba in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Others who also met their tragic end in the ill-fated flight from Bayelsa to Port Harcourt were the aides of the duo, Dauda Tsoho and Warrant Officer Mohammed Kamal, as well as the pilots, Commander Muritala Mohammed Daba and Lt. Adeyemi O. Sowole.

Orji described the circumstance of their death as “very painful and shocking.”

A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Ugochukwu Emezue, said the governor was yet to come to terms with this sad development which has thrown the nation into mourning.

The statement recalled that Governor Orji was in Kaduna penultimate weekend during the wedding of Vice President Namadi Sambo’s daughters and was well received by his late colleague at Government House Kaduna. He describedlate Yakowa as humble, hardworking, and above all God-fearing.

“No one can question God on this issue,” the governor said, lamenting that “the nation has lost great men who have distinguished themselves in their professions.” He prayed God to comfort the families of the deceased.

News Express reports that the helicopter, which crashed around 4:30 p.m., had been deployed to convey political heavyweights who attended the burial of Pa Douglas Obebara, the father of Oronto Douglas, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Research, Documentation and Strategy.

•Photo: Governor Theodore Orji.