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.”
No comments:
Post a Comment