This statement aptly describes the
scene of last Thursday's plane crash in
Lagos and Lagos State University
Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, where the
corpses of the 13 victims who died are
being kept and the survivors receiving
treatment. Let us take it from the
hospital. At the LASUTH gate, which the
teaching hospital shares with the
General Hospital, Ikeja, you were asked
where you are headed. If it was LASUTH,
you are directed to the left; if it was the
General Hospital, surgical emergency
ward, you moved straight on. It was a
drizzling Friday and, as you arrived the
morgue, not far from the pathology
section, many people were there,
waiting to collect the corpses of their
loved ones, but you could not decipher
which of them were for the victims of
the plane accident. You began to hear
all sorts as things as you mixed with
the crowd, from the absurd to pure
comedy.
Part of the absurd. The General
Manager of a top private radio station in
Lagos was said to be among those who
died in the crash. Although somebody
quickly countered the claim with a
question: What was the broadcaster's
business with the Agagu family?
Akeem, that was the name they called
him. He was said to have died with
Tunji Okusanya, the owner of MIC
Undertakers. He was, according to the
crowd, Okusanya's friend. He was so
nice, even better than Okusanya,
somebody in the crowd said. Why? "He
gave money freely. He was much more
important to them than Okusanya,
because Okusanya was tight fisted",
the man said.. "Akutunku e lona orun",
meaning who cares if he dies.
The same man Akeem was the topic of
discussion at the gate of the hospital .
Mortuary attendants and three other
uniformed security men likened
"Akeem" to Senator Bola Tinubu,
former Lagos State governor. According
to one of them, Akeem was not different
from Tinubu. "He gave freely. Whenever
he came around for collection of bodies,
he would give money to all of us. He
was like Tinubu and that is the reason I
can never talk ill about him.
And since he (Tinubu) left office I have
never voted". A few meters away, a
man was lamenting aloud why a
benefactor had to die now especially
when he was yet to fulfill his promise to
him. "He asked me to see him
yesterday (Thursday), and here he is in
the mortuary. How can this be? This is
not really fair", he said. He continued:
"Death, this is not fair. It is not fair to
him and not fair to me. How do I start
now? I have relied so much on you
(deceased), I have really relied so much
on you. Where do I go from here?". He
broke down in tears.
*Engine of the aircraft , at the Joint
Users Hydrant Installation, JUHI, Avation
Fuel Depot, site where the plane
crashed. The aircraft with number SCD
361 was operated by Associated
Airlines Limited. Photo: Diran Oshe.
Then, the Agagu issue came up.
Somebody had implied that the former
governor, through the plane accident,
wanted to take people with him to the
grave. The expression brought out
reactions. One came from one of the
relatives of a victim of the ill-fated
plane. At this time, tempers rose to the
point of the bereaved families
exchanging blows. And then a lady
walked past and the atmosphere
changed especially for four men in their
early 30s there. 'Look at that lady
going, look at her backside', one of
them said to which another replied. 'I
will give it a trial.. after all, the dead is
gone, those must go on'. Having gone
after the lady, he returned with a smile:
"I told you. I have collected her number.
My coming here is not in vain".
Then the Lagos State Special Duties
Commissioner, Dr. Ahmed Wale, walked
towards the pathology department
where forensic analysis, on the bodies
of the plane crash victims that died was
being done. Sunday Vanguard
approached him for a chat, and he
obliged. I followed him to the office of
Professor John Oladapo Obafunwa, said
to be the only forensic pathologist in
Lagos State. As we walked to the HOD's
office, an old friend, who claimed to be
residing in Spain, saw me and was
thoroughly embarrassed. He turned out
to be one of the mortuary attendants. I
asked him to wait while I conclude with
the commissioner, but by the time I
returned, he had bolted; his colleagues
could not say his whereabouts. Within
the pathology block was a conference
room where the staff of the NCAA were
attending to the relatives of deceased
persons to update them on what was
being done on the bodies. Back to the
surgical emergency section where the
survivors were, a consultant doctor
there identified as Mustapha, said the
plane crash survivors were in stable
condition. He would not disclose their
names or allow access to them.
Back to the crash site: The staff of
Accident and Investigation Bureau, AIB,
on Friday morning, 24 hours after the
crash, had condoned off the site, but
one could find personal belongings of
the victims there: slippers, handbag,
key holders and the plane wreckage.
Two things however bothered residents
of Mafoluku, where the plane came
down, regarding the accident. The site
was not far from a tank farm.
Akinwunmi Olatunde, 32, a resident,
said if the plane had crashed into
Mafoluku, the disaster would have been
mind-boggling. "Do you know that the
houses in this area are close to one
another? Not only that, a room has as
many as six people living there. If you
add it up, you are likely to have 40
people in an eight-room house. And it is
like that every where in this area. The
accident happened in the morning, just
when people were leaving their houses,
so there was the possibility of people
being killed if the plane had crashed
here".
For Michael Okpara, 40, business man,
his fear rose with the crash. According
to him, he got scared each time a plane
took off or landed. "That is just my fear.
Each time I hear the sound of a plane
taking off or landing, it is like it will fall
on top of our house. I was in my shop
when I heard of the accident, and that is
why I ran home. There is no doubt, I will
look for another accommodation when
my rent expires. When things like this
happens, it is more or less a warning for
the wise. Imagine if the plane had
crashed around here, what would I be
saying now? I can't bear it anymore.
Now is the right time to move. All the
same, we thank God for his mercies
over us".
For the tank farm owners, they couldn't
be luckier. Only few of them
volunteered to bare their minds. Jimoh
Kareem is one of them. He said he was
grateful to God for sparing the area
from the crash, otherwise, according to
him, "Some of us would have been
dead. If the plane had crashed here, the
entire neighbourhood would have gone
up in flames, drivers and motor boys
would have been burnt to ashes with
the vehicles and for those who may not
be on site, on hearing of the crash,
some of them would probably commit
suicide. So the enormity of the disaster
cannot be quantified"
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