Posted by By Simon Ateba on
The families of the dead victims of the Beechcraft 1900D light aircraft that crashed on 15 March, this year, with three crew members on board, have been kept in the dark and abandoned by both Wings Aviation Services Limited, operators of the aircraft, and the Federal Government.
The families of the dead victims of the Beechcraft 1900D light aircraft that crashed on 15 March, this year, with three crew members on board, have been kept in the dark and abandoned by both Wings Aviation Services Limited, operators of the aircraft, and the Federal Government.
The 19-seater aircraft crashed into the mountains of Busi in Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross River State, in the early hours of that Saturday, killing Captain Augustine Egbedi, the pilot; Captain Tanko, the co-pilot and a female business executive known as Faberata.
The chattered aircraft was said to be heading for Calabar, the Cross River State Capital, to convey Governor Liyel Imoke to Abuja, to testify before the senate committee on Power, probing how the N16 billion pumped into the power sector between 1999 and 2007, was spent without meaningful results. But, before the plane got to Calabar, it crashed and killed all the crew members.
But since the incident took place and the announcement of the discovery of the wreckage and the bodies of the victims and documents belonging to them, their families say they have no direct contact with the Federal Government.
Speaking with PM.News, yesterday, at her residence, along Ikorodu Road in Lagos State, the second wife of the pilot of the aircraft, Mrs. Patience Egbedi, disclosed that her family learnt about the discovery of her husband's passport and the wreckage of the aircraft through the pages of a newspaper.
She also revealed that since the incident took place, the Managing Director of Wings Aviation, Mr. Nogie Meggison, only visited them once. She added that the Minister of Transportation, Mrs. Allison Madueke, and the Minister of state for Air Transportation, Mr. Felix Hassan Hyat, have never visited them.
Patience Egbedi, a 400-level Mathematics Education student at the Lagos State University, LASU, broke down in tears as she narrated how in June, three of her children became very sick and she took them for treatment to a hospital in Maryland, Lagos. She disclosed that she owes the hospital N100, 000, up till now.
She further revealed that Meggison who came in the Month of April,. gave each of the three families of the dead victims, one million naira and since then nothing else has come their way.
She said 'Nobody contacted us. I just learnt it through the newspaper. Nobody has called us to inform us about the discovery and nobody has invited us to identify the documents said to belong to my husband.
'Until I see the proof that my husband is dead, I will continue to believe that he is alive. I know my husband, I know his passport and if they claim that they have found his passport, I should be there to identify him. If I had my way, if I had the money right now, I will be in Calabar to see if my husband is really dead' she said
'The company was in touch with us at the beginning of the incident. But with time, we have realized that they are not interested in taking responsibility.'
When PM.News contacted Meggison on telephone, yesterday, at about 5p.m., he simply said 'please, please, please' and dropped the phone.
I was thinking that they will have a kind of self pity, but up till now, Meggison only came here once. That was when we needed school fees for the children. I raised the issue and in return he gave N1 million to each family. We received one million naira to cater for 9 children.
'Since that time, he never came back or sent anybody from his company. In fact he switched off his phone for two months and it's just now that he switched on again. But nothing is coming our way and the children will be resuming school on 22 September. I have no money to pay the school fees, I don's work.
'I am a 400-level student at the Lagos State University, I study Mathematics Education. My husband was the breadwinner of the family. For my three children who were in school, he spent N500,000 for them each year as school fees.
'You know the age difference between my husband and me is enough for me to be his daughter. I used to cry everyday, but we have stopped crying because it has started affecting my health.'
The 60-year-old Captain Egbedi had two wives and nine children. The first wife, Roselyn Egbedi, has five grown up children with the eldest now at the NYSC camp in Edo Sate. Patience, the second wife, has four young children. The eldest of her children clocked 13, yesterday.
Patience further disclosed that instead of taking responsibility, Meggison has been saying that he wants to deal with the next of kin, but that he has not taken any meaningful step.
She disclosed that when the matter was heard at the senate, she travelled to Abuja and seized the opportunity to seek help from them but Government officials sent her back to the company.
She warned that if her children dropped out of school, then the company and the government will not have rest as she will fight for her children.
'I need assistance, if my children drop from school. We will fight. I will fight for my children. How else do they want me to cope with four children and the breadwinner is dead? I have not paid their school fees. I don's even know where the money will come from.'
Recalling when her husband was alive, she said 'he is a caring husband. He is from Delta State. He belongs to the same clan with Edwin Clark. He is not the kind of person that will leave his family, and if he was here today, he would have celebrated the 13 birthday of my first son. He loved his children.' PM.News called him back, but he refused to pick his calls.