Son of the late former governor of
Ondo State, Olusegun Agagu, Feyi was one of the few survivors of the ill-fated
aircraft, an Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia turboprop series belonging to Associate
Airlines conveying the late politician’s corpse to Akure, Ondo State last week
Thursday for burial.
Those, who were privileged to be amongst
the people waiting to receive the remains of the late former governor in Ondo
State with the state Governor, Olusegun Mimiko and Agagu’s wife, Olufunke told
us that the news of the plane crash naturally devastated everyone one around
and that the former Ondo first lady wept uncontrollably as she thought her son
had died in the crash.
“But, when they were told later that
Feyi survived the crash, everyone jumped for joy as if nobody died in the incident,
the whole place became electrified as they all sang songs of praises and gave
thanks to God for not allowing the family to suffer double loss,’ said a
source.
They were said to have openly
thanked God, who did not take away the young man at a time his late father had
not been buried and when his mother was yet to come to terms with the death of
her husband of many years.
It was reported that Feyi Agagu
survived the crash with relatively minor injury and is recuperating at the
hospital.
Feyi Asaju |
MIC Boss, Okusanya & son |
Shortly after the crash, one of the people
many thought were in the ill fated crash was the first son of former president
Olusegun Obasanjo, Gbenga. Upon receiving the news at the Olusegun Obasanjo
Presidential Library in Abeokuta, where he was attending an event, former
president Obasanjo was said to have shouted; “Which Gbenga, no he is not in
Lagos, he is in Abuja.”
Those who should know claimed that
Gbenga Obasanjo was actually scheduled to be in the aircraft. He was said to
have been part of whole arrangement, but that he was delayed in Abuja, where he
had gone for another engagement, which was why he missed the flight. He had
reportedly sent words to the family that he would join them in Akure for the
burial as he could not meet up with them in Lagos.
“So, he is just lucky to have
escaped the incident, that was why many people mentioned his name after the
crash as it was assumed that he was part of the entourage that went with the
corpse from Lagos,” said an informant.
First
Weekly was also privileged to another
angle to the story last week as we were informed that the people of Iju-Odo,
Agagu’s hometown were warned of an impending doom after the late politician’s
death.
A member of the Agagu family, High Chief
Sehindemi Oguntoye reportedly said that the community had a premonition that a
tragedy would occur before the burial of the former governor, so the family
held a prayer session after it was warned of an impending tragedy before the
burial.
He said: “The community had been informed
of an impending tragedy and the community had held a vigil to avert it. It was
a big tragedy for Iju-Odo community.
“We had before the death of Dr.
Agagu lost our traditional ruler, and now a plane crash, which involved our
loved ones.”
He however urged the community to be
fervent in prayers to prevent further tragedies.
The residents of the community were
in a pensive mood with many of them gathering in front of their houses
discussing the incident shortly after the incident.
Adebayo Adefarati |
Adekunle Ajasin |
Thirteen persons were confirmed dead
Thursday when an Associated Airlines plane bearing the remains of former governor,
Dr. Olusegun Agagu, to Akure for funeral rites, crashed within the vicinity of
the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, shortly after take-off.
Seven other passengers on board the
plane that burst into flames after crashing, including Agagu’s only son, Feyi,
were rescued and taken to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital
(LASUTH), Ikeja, Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Metta, and the Nigerian Air Force
(NAF) 445 Medical Reference Hospital, Lagos, for treatment.
One mystery that has continued to
baffle many is the fact that Ondo State incumbent Governors always bury their
predecessors; Adebayo Adefarati buried Adekunle Ajasin, Olusegun Agagu buried Adefarati,
while Governor Olusegun Mimiko buried Olusegun Agagu. Moreso, Agagu buried
Adefarati on his birthday, and Agagu died on Mimiko’s birthday.
The casket, in which Agagu’s remains
were encased, was also recovered and later taken away in a NAF ambulance with
registration number AF054E1 to the office of the Accident Investigation Bureau
(AIB).
The plane had on board 13
passengers, who were part of the funeral party for Agagu, a former Minister of
Aviation during the first term of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999,
and seven flight crew members.
According to the manifest,
passengers on the ill-fated plane were Feyi Agagu; state Commissioner for
Culture and Tourism, Mr. Deji Falae, who is the son of former Secretary to the
Government of the Federation (SGF) and presidential candidate in the 1999
general election, Olu Falae; Femi Akinsanya; Akintunde Joseph; Akeem Akintunde;
Tunji Okusanya Snr. of MIC Caskets, the funeral undertakers based in Lagos,
Chijioke Duru; Kingsley Amaechi, Deji Afolabi, Mrs. A.O. Alabi, Daji Bernard; a
protocol officer in the Ondo Government House; Samson Hassan; and
Olatunji Okusanya Jr. of MIC Caskets.
The seven flight crew were Captain
Yakubu, Flight Officer Oyinlola, Soroh Ebiya, a flight dispatcher identified as
Ibrahim, Mr. Felix Latoya, and cabin attendants, Owolabi and Samson.
Although the manifest has not been faulted by concerned authorities, it was
gathered that after the pilot of the flight had filed the manifest, which
contained 13 passengers and seven crew to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority
(NCAA), about seven other passengers boarded the 30-seater aircraft.
NCAA was therefore in a dilemma to
declare the names that were not on the manifest, even as it knew that the
number of the passengers were more than 20 as declared.
Among the undeclared passengers were
prominent personalities who might be declared wanted over time, except the
regulatory body and their relatives agree to make their names public.
The accident, which came barely 16 months after a Dana Air Flight J9 092 crashed at the Iju/Ishaga area of the state, killing 153 passengers, created chaos at the airport and a terrible traffic snarl that stretched to several kilometres.
The accident, which came barely 16 months after a Dana Air Flight J9 092 crashed at the Iju/Ishaga area of the state, killing 153 passengers, created chaos at the airport and a terrible traffic snarl that stretched to several kilometres.
A source alleged that the aircraft,
an Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia turboprop series, had not gone for maintenance
checks for a long time until Tuesday when it was prepared for the doomed
flight.
The airline’s management said in a
statement that it was currently cooperating fully with the aviation regulatory
authorities with a view to establishing the remote and other causes of the
accident.
“Our prayers go out to the affected
families of the departed. We pray for their souls to rest in perfect peace
while we continue to wish and pray for the speedy and full recovery of the
survivors of this grave and sad accident.
“We shall continue to provide
information on this accident firstly to the affected families out of respect to
them as we receive it. The aircraft was chartered for flight to Akure,” it
said.
The presidency yesterday summoned the Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah, a few minutes before she was about to address the media on the plane crash.
The presidency yesterday summoned the Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah, a few minutes before she was about to address the media on the plane crash.
But shortly after her departure to
heed the summons, her media aide, Mr. Joe Obi, issued a statement, which the
minister was billed to read.
Oduah, in the statement, said: “This
morning (yesterday) at 0932 hours, local time, an Embraer 120 aircraft, with
registration number 5N-BIT operated by Associated Airlines on a private charter
flight from Lagos to Akure, crashed shortly after take-off from the domestic
wing of the Murtala Muhammad International Airport.
“At departure, the crew of the
chartered operation reported 20 persons on board, including crew.
“We can confirm that there were six (later updated to eight by the ministry) survivors on the aircraft and four are in stable condition while two are critical but they are all receiving attention in the hospitals.
“We can confirm that there were six (later updated to eight by the ministry) survivors on the aircraft and four are in stable condition while two are critical but they are all receiving attention in the hospitals.
“The authorities are contacting
families of the victims of this unfortunate incident, and upon completion, will
make information about the identities of the victims public.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this difficult time.”
The black box, according to her, had
been located and was in the custody of the Accident Investigation and
Prevention Bureau (AIPB), which with the cooperation of NCAA, and other
relevant agencies commenced full investigation into the cause of the accident.
“While it is too early to determine
the cause of the accident, we urge the public to be patient while the
investigation progresses. I assure the public that the investigation will be
thorough and that our airspace remains safe and secure,” she added.
Also speaking on the casualties, the
General Manager, Federal Airports Authorities of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Yakubu
Dati, said 14 persons had been confirmed dead while five who were severely
injured were rushed to the hospital.
AIB Commissioner, Usman Muktar, told
reporters that the flight data recorder (black box) had been recovered, adding
that it was too early to speculate on the cause of the crash.
Another senior AIB official, Emmanuel Diala, said details of what caused the crash would only be determined after the analysis of the data box.
Another senior AIB official, Emmanuel Diala, said details of what caused the crash would only be determined after the analysis of the data box.
National Emergency Agency (NEMA),
South-west Zone spokesman, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, said shortly after the rescue
operation was underway that the agency and the state fire service rushed to the
scene of the incident immediately the news of the crash broke.
He said: “We got to the scene and
combined efforts to put out the fire before other emergency stakeholders joined
in. We took the rescued persons to the hospital. In total, we brought out 15
persons, made up of eight dead and seven alive. But one of the initial
survivors died on the way to the hospital.
“When we got to the scene, it was
easier to rescue the survivors because they were at the rear end of the plane
and the fire didn't get to them much, because the plane broke into two on
impact with the ground.
“However, while we were on the way
to the hospital, one of the survivors died as a result of shock and possible
internal haemorrhage but that is subject to autopsy results.
“The survivors are in a stable
condition at the moment as they were not badly burnt. But they cannot talk at
the moment because they are traumatised. They are currently in the emergency
ward of LASUTH.”
A senior member of staff of Sahara
Energy, whose aviation fuel tank farm was within the vicinity where the plane
crashed, said the situation could have been worse if they had not reacted
immediately by carrying out an emergency fire dousing exercise before the
emergency agencies arrived.
He said: “We were working there when
we heard a loud bang. We all rushed outside and saw the inferno as we have been
drilled several times for such situations, our emergency unit immediately
kicked into action.
“We had already started dousing the
fire when the emergency services came. We couldn’t rescue anyone because the
inferno was considerable and at that point, the focus was to prevent the fire
from extending to the tank farms.”
-Oladipupo
Awojobi
Additional
reports by Seyi Olomu
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