Rather than thaw, the dispute over the hiring of the aircraft that crashed while conveying the remains of former governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Agagu, on Tuesday as the state government said it has no hand in the deal.
The government, in a statement, denied the claim that it hired the aircraft of Associated Airline, which crash-landed last Thursday in Lagos, while conveying the body of Agagu to Akure for the commencement of the burial rites.
The family of Agagu, in a statement by Femi Agagu, had said the family had nothing to do with the hiring of the aircraft that killed Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr Deji Falae, amongst others.
The Agagu said it was the state government and the undertaker, MIC that struck the deal about the crashed aircraft.
But the government, in a statement by the Commissioner for Information, Mr Kayode Akinmade in Akure, the state capital, said the reaction would not have been necessary at the time the state and families are still mourning those who lost their lives in the crash, but for inaccurate media reports.
It explained that its determination to give the former governor a befitting state burial made it set up a burial committee, which met regularly with the family of the deceased to arrive at a burial programme agreeable to the family.
At one of the meetings, the statement said, the issue of the transportation of the body from Lagos to Akure was discussed.
“The committee deferred to the family’s insistence that the body be moved to Akure by air. The family, thereafter, introduced Mr. Tunji Okusanya (now deceased) of MIC Funeral as the official undertaker, who would make necessary arrangements regarding the movement of the body and the funeral.”
“Thereafter”, the statement further explained, “the MIC boss forwarded the names of various airlines through an e-mail message to the Committee, namely, Aero Contractor; OAS Helicopters; Chachangi; Arik; Dana and IRS as the Airline operators contacted”.
“It was indicated in his message that IRS was not available for conveying human remains; Dana aircraft had gone for maintenance; and Arik does not fly the Akure route”.
He, therefore, suggested Chachangi as “the best offer”.
The government further indicated that it was neither the wish nor the prerogative of government to indicate any preference for a particular airline, stressing that the interface with MIC at the instance of the family, was necessary for facilitation of payment ,insisting that “at no time was Associated Airline mentioned”.
Stating that the government made these clarifications against its wish, the statement emphasised that “this is definitely not the time for this as we are still mourning,” adding that “It is pathetic losing any soul in the course of paying homage to our former governor, particularly government officials and other bread winners of their families, including the Managing Director of MIC, his son, and other workers of his company”.
The government thanked the Federal Government for ordering a thorough investigation into the crash to prevent the occurrence of such tragedies in the future, imploring the team of investigators to leave no stone unturned in the course of their investigation.
Futher, the government said it “wishes to place on record it’s appreciation of the active and timely involvement of the Lagos State Government through its Emergency Agency as well as Federal Emergency agencies. We thank the management and staff of the Lagos State Teaching Hospital LASUTH, and other medical facilities who came to the
rescue of the survivors,” .
Thanking those “who have identified with the government during these trying times”, it also “sincerely thank those who have shared in our pain by identifying with us at this time. We implore you to pray for the repose of those who lost their lives in the ill-fated crash and also continue to pray for all the bereaved families,” the government appealed
