The outcome of the report has also met
with condemnations from relatives and
friends of the victims of the crash. They,
therefore, called for a complete overhaul
of the country’s aviation industry. They
said those responsible for the negligence
should be brought to book.
Mr. Taiwo Alabi, who lost his wife of 14
years, Oluwatoyin, to the crash, said, “Till
this moment, the airline or any of the
aviation agencies has not called me, even
to express their condolences. The news of
the report shows that Associated Airline
did it intentionally. They intentionally
wasted people’s lives because if not, they
would not have allowed the plane to fly
since they knew it was not fit to fly.
“There should be a total overhauling in
the aviation industry. In fact, government
should declare a state of emergency in
the sector and cease politicising issues
that have to do with people’s lives.”
Also, the guardian of 27-year-old Samson
Hassan who died in the plane crash, Mr.
Segun Shobiye, called for the resignation
of Nigeria’s Aviation Minister, Stella
Oduah.
Shobiye said it was proper for Oduah to
resign her position since there has been
“overwhelming evidence of failure.”
He said, “I’ve been to different parts of
the world and such things happening in
Nigeria do not happen anywhere else.
Even in other African countries like
Morocco and Tunisia, the minister would
resign her appointment. The report shows
that officials of the various regulatory
bodies are just in the offices doing
nothing. The regulatory bodies are
supposed to take charge, but that is not
the case in Nigeria and this doesn’t
happen anywhere else.
“Last year, there was a plane crash
involving Dana Air, do they want to make
an annual occurrence now? I don’t
understand why the government cannot
put professionals in the aviation sector to
man it. So, for Nigeria’s Aviation Minister
to come out and say that accidents are
acts of God is very ridiculous and shows
that she’s not supposed to be there. We
heard that the Associated Airline plane
had been parked for six months before
the trip that killed its passengers. We also
heard it was being test-run. This is bad
and shouldn’t be happening here
because it doesn’t happen anywhere else
in the world.
“To show the negligence in the aviation
industry, you only have to look at the
recent case of the stowaway boy who
sneaked into an aircraft in Benin City and
landed in Lagos. Nobody would have
heard anything if the boy had died.”
Also, Mr. Rasak Akintunde-Aniyanju, who
lost his niece, Akeem Akintunde, in the
crash, said the report was an indication
that the airline was responsible for the
carnage.
He said, “Now that we are talking about
compensation, it means they (airline) are
owing for many people’s lives. Those
responsible for the negligence must also
be penalised.”
Mr. Olusegun Okusanya, who lost his
cousins, the Chief Executive Officer of MIC
Caskets, Tunji Okusanya, and his son to
the crash, however, said the family was
too “pained” to react to the report yet.
He said, “We can’t bring those who are
dead back. The government should do a
proper investigation and carry out
appropriate actions. We have lost our
brother, his son and four of his
employees. It’s a big blow; so there is
nothing to say for now until the dead are
buried. It’s a painful loss to the family.
But why should they allow people to
board a plane not certified fit to fly? It is
a great injustice.”
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