The Agege, Lagos residence of the
Hassans still maintained a gloomy silence
a week after Samson Hassan, 27, along
with some other passengers, died
following the October 3, 2013 crash of an
Associated Airline charter aircraft.
Samson was a photojournalist, working
with MIC Caskets, which lost its Chief
Executive Officer, Mr. Tunji Okusanya, his
son, Olatunji Okusanya (Jnr) and four
other employees in the crash.
Samson’s family members said the
household would never be the same
again, following his death. In the house
where Samson grew up, his aged mother,
Christiana, who seemingly stared into
space, intermittently sighed deeply,
muttering to herself.
As sympathisers arrived and left, offering
their condolences, Christiana kept
repeating to herself, “my son, my joy, my
pride.”
Christiana’s grief has been profound. Five
months ago, she lost her husband and a
daughter within three days, to
undisclosed illnesses.
She said, “What I face is bigger than what
any other person may be facing. Since my
husband fell ill and died, Samson had
been my father and my mother. He came
to see me every Saturday, handling all the
family responsibilities. He would call to
encourage me and tell me not to worry at
all.
“As young as he was, he was a pillar to
this family, especially since my husband’s
death. My husband was in the hospital
and I was tending to him, meanwhile, my
daughter was also ill at home. I got back
home and met my daughter dead. My
daughter (Samson’s elder sister) died on
a Sunday and I think it was the news of
her death that killed my husband in the
hospital on Tuesday. This was just five
months ago; now this has befallen me
again.”
The news of Samson’s death had come as
a shock to Christiana, who was not aware
that her son was flying to Akure on the
morning of the crash. Initially, all she
heard about the crash was that Samson’s
boss, Okusanya, was in the plane and
that there were survivors.
She said, “That morning, he called his
wife to tell her that he was travelling, but
his wife’s phone battery was flat, so they
couldn’t finish the conversation. When I
heard about the crash and that his boss
was involved, I was hurt, because his boss
was a very nice man. We were even
praying for all the surviving victims of the
crash, not knowing that my son was
among the dead.
“We started calling Samson’s number but
it kept ringing. We thought he was busy
tending to the crisis situation since his
boss was in the crash. I knew he would
also be part of the work his boss was
going for, but I thought he was going by
road.”
Christiana said it was later in the day that
some relatives went to the hospital to find
out about Hassan since no family member
could reach him on the phone.
She said, “When they (relatives) got to the
hospital, they were told that there was a
survivor whose identity was still unknown.
But the following morning when they
went back there, they were able to see
him. I was told that his body was swollen
but that they could recognise him.
“Later, they were told that he was moved
to Gbagada General Hospital (special
burns unit), but by Sunday morning,
when our people left for Gbagada to see
him and I was preparing to go to church
to continue to pray for him, our pastor
and some others came and began
preaching to me. From the way they were
talking, I knew something was wrong. I
shouted that they should not mistake my
Samson for someone else. I didn’t know
that the Gbagada where they claimed to
have taken him would be his way to the
mortuary.”
Samson is survived by a wife and two
children, a two-year-old boy and a baby
less than two months old. Meanwhile,
Hassan had been responsible for the
welfare of the two children left behind by
his deceased sister, aged seven and four.
Christiana said, “My Samson had been the
one taking care of all of us. I’m old and
I’ve stopped work since I had an accident
that affected my legs. Samson had been
the one taking care of the family. He was
a very nice and loving child.”
However, Christiana appealed for
assistance from the government and well-
meaning Nigerians, describing keeping
the four children, Samson’s and her
sister’s, in school, as the biggest
challenge facing her.
She said, “If they give me money, I will
finish it but my concern is for these
children. Samson was responsible for
their education and now that he is no
more, I will appeal to the government to
assist us. These children need to be in
school; that was Samson’s wish also.”
The last person to see Samson alive was
his guardian, Mr. Segun Shobiye, who had
introduced him to photography at a
young age and through whom he also
met and started working for Okusanya.
Shobiye, the owner of Posh Magazine,
said he had acted in a godfather capacity
for Samson since he was 13 years old.
He said, “His (Samson) sister was my god-
daughter. He was about 13 years when he
was brought to me to learn the work. I
was into photography and when we
started Posh Magazine in 2007, naturally,
he joined us.”
Shobiye said his hopes were high after
receiving news that Samson was still alive
on Friday, the day after the crash.
He said, “Initially, when we heard about
an unnamed person also surviving the
crash, my editor, Bola Oke, said the
person would be Samson because we
knew him to be very strong. It was
because of his strength that we dubbed
him ‘Omo Aiye.’”
He recalled sometime ago when Samson
suffered an injury in the arm during a riot
in his area, he still showed up for work
after getting himself treated at the
hospital.
Shobiye said, “He kept saying the cut
wasn’t much until we saw it. That was the
kind of person Samson was. So, our
hopes were up when we heard that he
survived, so we went to the hospital. On
the way, we kept praying that he should
live up to his name, ‘Omo Aiye’ and live.
But I was standing by him at the hospital,
the tone of the life-support machine
changed and I called the nurses. The
nurses said ‘no problem’ but by the time
we got outside, we got news that he had
died.”
Shobiye, who had visible goose pimples
each time he spoke about Samson, wept
continuously during his narration.
“I believe that being the last person to
see him alive shows the kind of bond
between us. He was a very good guy. He
taught my daughter to eat biscuits
because he liked biscuits so much. My
daughter still cries till now,” he said.
Oke, who also worked with Samson,
before he joined MIC Caskets, described
him as “trustworthy.”
She said, “Samson would never
disappoint you. If he said he was coming,
then he was coming. I always say that it’s
easier to make Samson laugh than make
him cry because he didn’t take anything
too personal. He would never complain.”
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