• It‘s not a crash, says NAMA
IN what has remained a puzzle to many, an aircraft was Thursday packed in a filling station at Igando, a Lagos suburb.
Many described it as a ‘mystery’ plane while the rumour mills tagged it a crash landed aircraft as they could not understand how a Cessna aircraft belonging to the late Bishop Gabriel Oduyemi of Bethel Ministry found its way to a petrol station rather than being in the sky.
No one was on hand to offer explanation to where the disused aircraft was being towed to before it made its way to Dapsey Filling station located on Olowonla bus stop, along the LASU-Isheri/Iyana Oba Road.
Curious to get more ‘facts’ about the ‘mystery’ plane, thousands of people thronging the filling station to catch a glimpse of the plane with United States registration, N972TF.
But NAMA’s Managing Director, Mr. Nnamdi Udoh in a statement Thursday said that the said plane did not crash as rumoured, adding that it was actually a junk one belonging to Oduyemi of Bethel Ministries and had long been parked at a NAMA facility up till Wednesday night when it was eventually removed.
The back wheel of the plane had burst just as the tyre could be seen almost rolling out, the reason the plane could no longer be towed easily.
Officials of Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), led by Mr. T.A. Adedoyin were among the first to arrive the scene, adding they were there to see things for themselves and to know whether it was a crash as reported earlier in social media.
The presence of armed security operatives prevented onlookers from moving very close to the aircraft, as many confessed that they were seeing a plane at a close range for the very first time in their life.
The incident caused traffic snarl, but for the quick intervention of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and men of the Lagos State Transport Management Agency (LASTMA), it would have been difficult to navigate the area.
There are, however, posers over the manner the aircraft was towed, just as many want to know who authorised the release of the airplane to be towed on road.
There are also questions as to why the NAMA and not the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) was the agency that released the airplane since the FAAN is in charge of airport while NAMA only controls the airspace.
According to Udoh, “The aircraft was actually released to Captain M.J. Ekehinde who will be using it for educational purposes in Badagry, Lagos. A cross-section of the wings was removed to ease transportation to its new location. While we appreciate the concern of the public on sighting the plane at an unusual site, we urge that people should always contact the police and local government officials for proper information before spreading the news of a crash involving any aircraft”.
Meanwhile, the owner of the filling station, Oladapo Cocker lamented the way his business was paralysed yesterday, disclosing that he was waiting for his lawyer before pressing charges against the owners of the airplane.
“I was called at about 1 a.m. yesterday from the Divisional Police Officer of the area that a light aircraft they were towing to Badagry had broken down at the middle of the highway and that they would need my premises to park it. I obliged them thinking it would be for few hours before they would come and remove it”.
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