Senators demand for sack of aviation officials - For giving false information on missing plane

From Soji-Eze Fagbemi, Taiwo Adisa and Shola Adekola - 19.03.2008

SENATORS on Tuesday called for the immediate sack of all aviation officials who gave conflicting reports on the fate of the crew members of the missing Beechcraft 1900D with registration number 5N-JAH belonging to the Wings Aviation, which reportedly crashed four days ago.

Earlier information from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Minister of State (Air Transport), Mr. Felix Hyat, on Sunday, said the missing plane was found at Igabu, in Yala Local Government Area of Cross River State on Sunday evening and that the three-crew members on board were dead.

But, the minister was said to have made a U-turn on Monday when he declared that the plane had not been found.

Describing the incident as a disgrace to the country, the Senate President, Senator David Mark, stated that he expected somebody to have resigned without waiting to be sacked, while the former Chairman, Senate Committee on Labour, Senator Bassey Ewa-Hensaw, said that those who were involved in the issue should be sacked.

Senator Mark, who lamented the handling of the recovery operations by agencies concerned, was speaking at the Senate plenary after a point of order was raised by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Anyim Udeh, on the missing aircraft.

Mark said it was bad enough and a shame that several days after the plane was reported missing, it could not be located.

According to him, “It is sad enough that after four days the aircraft was declared missing, nobody has taken responsibility. In a civilised world, if such happens, someone should have thrown in the towel. Somebody should be courageous enough to take responsibility for this shameful act.”

To Senator Ewa-Henshaw: “Every time there is a serious problem, you see NEMA distributing blankets. These people should be sacked. They are not responsible. They don’t know what they should be doing.”

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, described the handling of the missing aircraft as an embarrassment to the country and asked that the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) should involve their international counterparts to locate the aircraft.

Senator Smart Adeyemi, who is the chairman of the Senate Committee overseeing the activities of NEMA, said it was depressing that NEMA had only one helicopter to use during emergencies, adding that the missing aircraft had exposed the inadequacies of government agencies to react to challenges.

Other senators who contributed condemned the way the relevant agencies in the aviation sector handled the crash.

The Senate mandated its Committee on Aviation to liaise with the relevant agencies of government for briefing and also to report back to the Senate on steps taken to recover the missing aircraft.

Meanwhile, it has been gathered that some officials on whom lies the responsibility of search and rescue may be quizzed for their roles in the crash.

The development became obvious on Tuesday following the embarrassment the fake news fed to Nigerians that the wreckage of the plane had been found has caused the nation.

While the search for the missing plane persists,sources have disclosed to the Nigerian Tribune that some of the officers were already being quizzed to ascertain where they got the information that the missing plane was found at Igabu in Yala Local Government Area of Cross River State.

The fake news which has sparked off condemnation in the aviation industry has led to many stakeholders calling on the government to sack anybody found wanting in disseminating the news.

The stakeholders attributed reasons for their call for those found guilty to be punished to the recurrence of irresponsibility on the part of officials of the agencies whenever there is accident or incident.