Posted by By UCHE USIM on
It was tears of joy when Esther Jeyibo, one of the nine survivors of Sunday's plane crash involving ADC flight 053, in Tundu Madaki, Abuja, walked into the arrival hall of Lagos airport on Wednesday morning. She was in the company of her elder brother, a military man, who refused to give his name for what he described as "military and personal reasons."
•Jubilation as she arrives Lagos
It was tears of joy when Esther Jeyibo, one of the nine survivors of Sunday's plane crash involving ADC flight 053, in Tundu Madaki, Abuja, walked into the arrival hall of Lagos airport on Wednesday morning. She was in the company of her elder brother, a military man, who refused to give his name for what he described as "military and personal reasons."
Esther, a youth corps member with ADC Airlines in its Sokoto office and one of the luckiest of the survivors of the crash, having sustained limited wounds, arrived the airport at about 8.45am from Abuja wearing a pair of blue jeans, brown T-shirt and a pair of matching leather slippers. She also clutched her handbag, which she said was one of the things she retrieved at the scene of the crash.
As soon as she walked into the arrival lounge unaided, though limping slightly, people screamed: "You are a miracle! You are a miracle!" Esther chuckled and replied: "I'm God's daughter. God loves me and He has a purpose for me. My survival is completely by His grace."
On standby to receive her were her parents, Peter and Esther Jeyibo, who were in jubilant mood. Her mother, particularly, broke down in tears and she and daughter knelt down for prayer.
Esther has already started enjoying ‘survival gifts' as Aero Contractor, Daily Sun learnt, gave her a free ticket and a souvenir.
Esther narrated what happened before the crash:
"I came home from Sokoto to see my people in Lagos and I was returning on Sunday. We boarded the plane from Lagos and from Lagos to Abuja, the flight was okay. It was raining before we left Abuja airport. When the plane got into the air and while the pilot was trying to balance, there was lightning and thunderstorm.
By that time, the light in the plane began to blink. So it was obvious that the pilot was trying to get us stabilized, but there were so many movements, up, down, left, right and all that. I had my friend by my side, so we held on to each other and we were screaming Jesus! Jesus!! Jesus!!!, Holy Ghost fire! Holy Ghost fire!! Holy Ghost fire!!! The next thing we knew, we were on the ground.
"After that, I looked left and right, no sound. Everywhere was quiet. I was still strapped to my seat belt. I started crying and was screaming, ‘can somebody help me? Can somebody get me off this seat belt?' There was nobody to answer. I called on to my friend, Esther and asked ‘are you still there? She replied, ‘I'm here.' I enquired if she was fine. She replied, ‘I'm fine.' I gathered the little energy I had to unstrap myself from the seat belt and I was facing down. I fell down.
I later called my friend for us to leave the place. We came out, Esther was still carrying her bag when I remembered that I brought a handbag too. I went inside to get my handbag, but I didn't find it. I checked where I sat which was still intact, but I didn't find it. Then I came out and saw there was fire at the other section of the plane. I told my friend to help me watch the fire to know when it got close. I ran back inside to search for my bag. I found my bag in a squashed up area. I had to pull it out and then my shoes were underneath my feet. I picked them out.
"I was holding them and then I saw two ladies on top of each other. The one beneath still looked alive, but the one on top looked weak. Esther and I helped to remove the girl on top so that the one below could stand. She was able to get up. We were all out now, but we didn't have too much energy to pick up the weak person. Also, there was a cabin crew. She is in the intensive care unit now. By this time, farmers were already coming in. They came to us, but we directed them to other people who needed urgent help. As they were going to pick them up, there were two explosions. I told my friend that it was time for us to leave that place. As we walked, we saw the ambulance and we were taken to the hospital. Rescue operation was fast."
On whether she will fly after the harrowing experience, Esther said: "Well, I flew here, but it wasn't easy. I'll still fly again. I'll advise anyone flying to hold on to his/her God." For her dad, Peter Jeyibo, a retired Air Force officer, his daughter's strange call was alarming because that was not the right time to get it. He also told his story:
"That day looked like a day that was not to end well because something extraordinary happened. Normally, when I bring her to the airport, after checking in, I'll just drive out, but that day we (her mum and myself) decided to wait and see the aircraft take off. Eventually, when the aircraft took off, I did my calculation. I knew Lagos-Abuja is one hour flight. They'll spend like 30 minutes in transit, then another one hour to Sokoto. So I said by 12.10 pm or 12.15 pm, the plane should arrive Sokoto. I didn't go to the church that day because if I didn't hear from her, my mind won't be at rest. I sat down and started looking at the clock.
"At about 11.40 am my phone rang and I saw her name. I was surprised. I felt there was a delay in Abuja as they were not supposed to have reached Sokoto by then.
I picked up the phone after I summoned courage. What I heard from the other end was ‘daddy! daddy! our plane has crashed.' Well, as an Air Force personnel, I know what an air crash means. I couldn't believe my ears. Her mummy was sitting close to me, so I left the place to avoid dampening her spirit. My daughter said the plane was burning. She said she had no scratch, no broken leg. She said the aircraft was so bad. I asked how many survivors. She said about six of them she could see. I calmed her down, assuring her that rescue operations was on the way. I was calling her every five minutes until they ended up at the National Hospital, Abuja. I called her brother and others and told them about the crash."