A Nigerian military plane has crashed in the northwestern state of Zamfara after being opened fire by robbers. The plane was returning after completing a successful operation between the Zamfara and Kaduna states. A statement from the Air Force said on Monday that the pilot, Lt. Abayomi Dairo, had disembarked within an hour. After surviving the crash, the gunmen opened fire on him, but he managed to avoid them and sought refuge in another village until dawn. "He then used his cell phone to find a way out, where he managed to avoid several militant camps and reached a section of the Nigerian Army, from where he escaped”, the statement said. The statement added that at the time of the news of the crash, Air Chief Marshal Oladayo Amao, ordered that all efforts be made to rescue the pilot. "It was then that Air Force reconnaissance and combat helicopters and ground support were used to identify the scene of the accident and to see how the pilot used it to