There was panic in some areas of Lagos metropolis, yesterday, following news of plane crashes.
Consequently, residents of the areas, some of whom were jolted from sleep rushed out of their apartments for fear of the unexpected.
The news of the plane crashes were circulated via social media, with a warning to loved ones to avoid places such as Igando, Ojo/Iyana-Iba, Lasu/Isheri Road, Sanya, along the Oshodi/Apapa expressway and Mangoro on the Lagos/Abeokuta expressway.
However, when visited Igando, it was a disused aircraft that was sighted. The aircraft which reports say belongs to the late founder of Bethel Ministries, Dr Gabriel Oduyemi, was reportedly intercepted by military personnel along the Ojo/Iyana-Iba expressway.
Although, nobody could explain how the plane got to that location, eyewitnesses confirmed that it landed mysteriously about 2 a.m yesterday, in Dapsey fuel station, with patrol vans all over the place.
A nurse on night duty who spoke on condition of anonymity said the plane was right in the middle of the road as a result of a punctured tyre, adding that it almost ran into a near-by fuel station.
The aircraft with number N972TF and fully loaded with unknown materials, had the inscription ‘Gabriel Oduyemi World Outreach’. It had its two wings broken, with brownish patches suspected to have developed from a long period of dis-use.
A fuel attendant at the scene was prevented from speaking with newsmen by security operatives.
Aircraft almost caused accident
But an official of the Aviation International Bureau, Tunde Adedoyin, an engineer, said that from preliminary investigation, it was not an accident case.
Adedoyin said: “What we have done so far is to find out if it was an accident situation. From our preliminary interviews we discovered that the plane was towed to the fuel station.
“The aircraft was almost causing an accident on the road before it was brought into the fuel station. It was in the process of being diverted that it lost one of its back tyres, according to the reports we got.”
However, owner of the fuel station, Mr.Oladapo Coker, explained that he gave his consent for the plane to be parked in his filling station, following a call from the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Igando, Olugbenga Adeoye, at about 1 a.m.
No plane crash in Lagos —NAMA, NEMA
The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency ,NAMA, however, dispelled the rumour that there was a plane crash anywhere in Lagos particularly in Igando, Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos. Rather, it explained that the disused plane seen in Igando was a junk aircraft belonging to late Apostle Gabriel Oduyemi of Bethel Ministries and had long been parked at a NAMA facility up till Wednesday night when it was eventually canibalised and removed.
In a statement, yesterday, Managing Director of NAMA, Engr. Mazi Nnamdi Udoh, said the system of the agency did not capture any missing plane, noting that there could not have been any plane crash without the aircraft first reported missing in the agency’s system.
Udoh said: “This morning, we were inundated with phone calls and inquiries over a crash involving a small aircraft but there is nothing like that, it is a hoax because our system did not capture any missing plane. The aircraft was actually released to Captain M.J.Ekehinde who will be using it for educational purposes in Badagry, Lagos. A cross section of the wings was removed to ease transportation to its new location. I affirm again that NAMA facilities are working at optimal level and this could have assisted in detecting any missing plane within the nation’s airspace.
“While we appreciate the concern of the public on sighting the plane at an unusual place, we urge that people should always contact the police and local government officials for proper information before spreading the news on incident involving any aircraft.”
Corroborating his claim, spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Ibrahim Farinloye said: “NEMA has debunked story of plane crash around Igando or Mangoro by social media. There is no crash. But they are trying to remove scraps of unused aircraft from the airport vicinity and people thought it was a crash.”
Also at Sanya bus-top along the Oshodi/Apapa expressway, an aircraft was sighted, with the metals on the wings eating away. There was a crowd around the bus-stop, with a man in Air Force uniform there. None could tell how the aircraft found its way there.
But Vanguard’s investigation showed that the relocation of the aircraft to various places could not be unconnected with the recent one-week ultimatum issued by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, to owners of abandoned airplanes across the nation, saying they constituted security threat to the country.
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