12—Vanguard, THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 2012
DANA: How I escaped with my daughter —Survivor BY EVELYN USMAN
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VISIT: Wife of River State Governor, Mrs. Judith Amaechi (right) and Dr. Alex Otti, GMD/CEO, Diamond Bank Plc during the visit by the Rivers State Governor's wife to the bank in Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Diran Oshe.
AGOS—ONE of the survivors of Sunday’s plane crash, Mr. Iloka Chima who is still undergoing treatment at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, yesterday, narrated how he escaped death by the whiskers. But this was without a rear display of act of bravery, as he did all he could to also rescue his daughter even in the face of death. From his hospital bed where he had a plaster of Paris, POP, on his hand, he narrated, “I was in the
sitting room playing with my electronic game when all of a sudden, we heard a loud bang on the roof. At first, I looked away. But when I started feeling the vibration of the building, I knew all was not well. The next thing I heard was my little daughter crying and calling me at the same time. As I rushed to where she was, I discovered that a beam from the building had fallen on her . I managed to carry her and rushed out. "On the way, one of the beam landed on my shoulder. It was at that moment , I concluded that the building was
collapsing. I can not tell how I managed to go out. But when I did , I discovered that it was a plane that landed on our building. "I lost everything I had laboured for all my life. But I am most grateful to God for sparing my life and that of my entire family. "My wife was just returning from church with one of our children when the incident occurred. Above all, I am grateful toGodthatmyapprentice,whom I brought from the village, Uchechukwu Okoye , also survived it. Had the contrary happened, tell me, what would I have told his parents?"
thousands of youths across the countrytostageprotestsinLagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt international airports to press home their demand and also go to court to restrain the operations of the airline. Reacting to the sad incident, the group in a statement by Nelly Emma, John Sailor Mukoro Stanley, condemned the crash and called on President Jonathan to not only suspend the operation of the airline, but ban its operations in the country, describing the crash as one too many. “We are saddened over the plane crash of Sunday, June 3, 2012 in which we
lost 169 souls. The oil and gas industry in the country was robbed of Dr. Levi Ajuonuma and other promising Nigerians. The oil and gas sector can never be the same again now that Dr. Ajuonuma is gone. Our hearts go out to the families of all the victimsofthegenocidecausedby Dana Airline. “Never again, must this genocide happen to us. Our demand from the Federal Government is a simple one, but if it is not met, we will mobilise thousands of youths across the country to storm major international airports in the countryforamassprotestagainst Dana Airline."
Edo NSE sets up c'ttee to probe collapsed Engr.Obanor Victor, in a ....As Group urges Jonathan to hospital building statement, yesterday, BY SIMON EBEGBULEM ENIN CITY— FOLLOWING the collapse of a section of the Benin Central Hospital project, being executed by the Governor Adams O s h i o m h o l e ’ s administration on Monday, the Nigeria Society of Engineers, NSE, Edo State chapter, has set up a six man committee to
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investigate the incident. Six persons were rescued while an expatriate lost his life in the incident, which occurred when a rope cut on one of the cranes conveying concrete from the base of the fourstorey building, smashing into the third, second and ground floors of the building. State Chairman of NSE,
expressed shock over the incident, adding that the society decided to investigate the collapse so as to avoid future occurrence in the state. The committee is to investigate the architectural, structural design drawings and mechanical/electrical design drawings of the project.
ban airline
ARRI—A CIVIL society group, Niger Delta Indigenous Movement for Radical Change, NDIMRC, has implored President Goodluck Jonathan to ban Dana Airline completely from operating in the country, describing Sunday’s plane crash as a ‘clear genocide’ that must not repeat itself. The group, while welcoming the suspension of Dana’s operating licence by the Federal Government,urgedthePresident to go a step further by banning the Airline totally in the country. It threatened to mobilise
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Delta realised N1.5bn not N1.5trn in five years, says commissioner BY FESTUS AHON GHELLI—THE Delta State Government has denied media report, that it generated over N1.5 trillion as revenue from land related charges in the state in the last five years. The state Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Urban
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Development, Mr Patrick Ferife, in a statement, yesterday, said: “I never gave such figure to the press as quoted by the media during the Ministry ’s media briefing in Asaba. “I told journalists that the Ministry collected over N1.5bn as revenue for the state from 2007 to 2011 and not N1.5
trillion as quoted in the media.” Giving details of the revenue profile, he said; “in 2007, the Ministry collected for the state N90.2 million; in 2008, N135.8 million; in 2009, N300.4 million; in 2010, N543 million; in 2011, N554 milion, bringing the total amount to N1.5 billion. “This refutal became necessary as I was quoted out of context by the media as well as the need to keep the records straight as the people had been misinformed.”