It’s been a Yuletide of panic in parts of Ibadan, capital of Oyo State in South-West Nigeria, following the landing of a presumed mysterious flying object on the roof of a house of a perplexed family. The incident has set tongues wagging since December 22, with many concluding that the object was on a spying mission for the United States of America.

The mystery behind the object was, however, cleared yesterday by a combined team of the Nigeria Police, State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and officials of Ido Local Government Area. The team led by Ido LG Chairman, Prof. Joseph Adeniyi Olowofela, recovered the flying object in a house in Awotan in the local government area.

The kite-like object turned out to be a quadrocopter developed by Sunday Folayan, an Ibadan-based Electronics Engineer and the Vice President of Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA). Folayan himself was in the team that recovered the object yesterday.

Folayan, who claimed to have produced many similar toys for his son in the past, explained that he was playing with his son with the battery-propelled toy when it got missing and efforts to retrieve it failed on Sunday, December 22.

Giving a description of what the toy looked like, he said: “The weight of the toy is 0.8 kilogrammes with the shape of an I-Pad. It cannot run more than 15 minutes. It is not solar-panelled, but uses battery and it is remote controlled.

Allaying fears over the quadrocopter, Folayan said as a proud Nigerian and one that cannot be used against the interest of Nigeria, he has no link with the US, assuring that he was only satisfying his hobby.

Describing the flying object was “a fun toy that went wrong,” Folayan dismissed speculations that it was a drone on an espionage mission. He said: “I am an orbits person with passion for flying objects which I usually operate within my environment, but since the one in question is a quadrocopter which has better stability we decided to calibrate it. It was very unfortunate that it flew out of control specifically on Sunday, December 22. However, I informed my neighbours but was embarrassed when I discovered that it had been linked to espionage.

“I don’t know where they got their fact from but I think it was exaggerated. Even if espionage is involved, it should be handled with caution and left for the experts. It is not in the interest of both countries, USA and Nigeria, I don’t work for the two countries either but I’m a proud Nigerian and I believe we should all work for the development of our great nation.”

On his part, the LG Caretaker Chairman, Prof. Olowofela, assured the people that there is no cause for alarm. He warned media practitioners to exercise caution especially in cases involving two countries, saying that reports alleging that the object was an American drone could portray the US as a spy, which could strain the relationship between it and Nigeria.

•Story based on materials from Nigerian Tribune and The Nation. Photo courtesy The Nation.

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