Posted by By John Ighordaro on
Late Rivers State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Thompson Okujagu, who was one of the victims of the ill-fated Sosoliso air crash had gone to Abuja to receive an award on behalf of himself and Governor Peter Odili.
Port Harcourt - Late Rivers State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Thompson Okujagu, who was one of the victims of the ill-fated Sosoliso air crash had gone to Abuja to receive an award on behalf of himself and Governor Peter Odili.
He was returning from the trip when the plane crashed on the Port Harcourt International Airport tarmac .
When Vanguard visited the Late Professor's residence on Olu Obasanjo road in Port Harcourt, no one was willing to speak as all members of the family including the widow were still in shock.
The only person who could speak was the late Professor's press secretary, Mr. Emmanuel Kaddick Jamabo.
According to him, 'it has been shocking and traumatic and the family is full of quiet. It was so sudden and unexpected. It's not a pleasant thing. It has created deep wounds in our hearts. We resign our fate to God Almighty.
'You know he had gone to Abuja to represent the governor on the invitation of the Exam Ethics Project of Nigeria. The governor was given an award and so was the commissioner. The governor bagged the Exam Ethics Excellence Award, while the commissioner was given the Role Model Award."
Asked if one could speak with Mrs. Okujagu, he said, 'She is indisposed. Before we finally located the Prof's corpse, she went all over the hospitals and we finally found the body at Kpama Mortuary. Even at the last moment, she thought her husband wasn't one of the dead we thought so, until we saw the body."
He hinted that the late education commissioner would receive a state burial but 'that it' s for government to decide the mode and the time", he added.
Mrs. Mary Odili's younger brother, Mr. Okey Nzenwa also lost a daughter in the crash. According to a Government House source, the father of the girl, Mr. Okey Nzenwa was with the little girl in Abuja before she boarded the plane. But the man was not part of those that boarded the plane.
Vanguard gathered that Pastor Bimbo Odukoya was coming to Port Harcourt for an engagement.
The Director, Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau, Federal Ministry of Aviation, Engr. Ifeanyi Ozoka told journalists at the airport that the black box and flight recorder have been sent abroad for further investigation.