NAMA Endangered Oshiomhole’s Life - Edo Govt

The row over the alleged disruption of the flight of Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State by an aviation agency yesterday deepened as the state government said the incident endangered the governor’s life.

It called for a panel of inquiry to investigate the incident.

The agency at the centre of the row, Nigerian Airspace Management Authority (NAMA), responding, said the flight was not grounded.

NAMA, according to its officials, only asked the pilot to file a flight plan and manifest before taking-off.

The flight originated in Benin-City, the capital of Edo State, and was conveying Oshiomhole to Anambra State to attend the burial of the wife of Senator Ben Obi, a presidential adviser on inter-party affairs..

A similar row brewed last month when NAMA grounded a plane belonging to Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi who was flying from Akure, Ondo State capital back home.

Special Adviser to the Edo Governor on Media, Prince Kazeem Afegbua, said, yesterday, that the NAMA action was deliberate to endanger the life of his principal as he claimed the flight was air borne before it was ordered to return to Benin Airport.

 Saying the governor was still shocked by the incident, Afegbua alleged the aviation agency could not have acted alone and vowed that the state government will got to the root of the matter.

 He told Sunday Vanguard: “We are still expecting an apology from NAMA and the management for endangering the life of the number one citizen of Edo State who was duly elected by the overwhelming good people of the state and whose mandate was renewed on July 14, 2012. We smell rat in this whole embarrassing situation. We want to believe that the opposition (PDP) had a hand in this because, under normal circumstances, helicopters are not under any aviation rules to land at the airport to pick their passengers; helicopters fly within uncontrolled airspace hence the idea of fees or no fees does not arise.

What if the helicopter gets to a village in Awka where there is no airport, is it going to pay landing fees to the villagers?

“If the helicopter had gone to Iyamhu, the village of Governor Oshiomhole, to pick him, would they have instructed him to come to Benin Airport for their so-called manifest and landing fee before taking him to his destination? As this is not the first time the helicopter was picking the Comrade Governor to some other locations outside Benin City, the action of NAMA and its overzealous management at Benin Airport and other places was deliberately meant to endanger the life of the Comrade Governor”.

Air borne flight

According to him, “We demand an inquiry into the incident, otherwise we will take up the issue formally on our own. NAMA must explain to us as a government why it had to return a helicopter that was already air-borne to Benin-City and deliberately delayed the flight for more than one hour thirty minutes even when their so-called formalities had been met.

“We can understand that we are in an era of democratic dictatorship and we have a very strong feeling that the NAMA Manager at Benin Airport did not act alone because he told the Comrade Governor, point-blank, that they will ground that helicopter. Even when the Comrade Governor sued for his understanding, he was still threatening fire and brimstone against the rules of helicopter operation in the aviation industry.

“As a government, we are going to be extra-ordinarily vigilant because the PDP in Edo State and the country at large are becoming desperate, hence we insist that there must be an investigation into the immediate and remote causes of this embarrassment to Edo State governor in the interest of Nigerians and our democracy”.

Secretary to the Edo State Government, Prof Julius Ihonvbere, also reacted on the incident, yesterday, saying ‘the agents of the Federal Government and in their careless enthusiasm should not make complex an already complicated situation for the people of Nigeria. “He added: “We have enough problems, let them not add more to it with this needless mind game they are playing.

“Oshiomhole’s status and vision cannot be diminished. Edo State and the people remain committed to national peace, unity and sustainable development. In Edo, we can go by land, by air, by water or we can just appear wherever we need to, so we have no problem with transportation”.

People don’t learn - Akhigbe

Also speaking on the matter, yesterday, a former Vice President, Vice Admiral Mike Akhigbe, described the incident as funny, saying: “I don’t have the details yet, but this is funny. I don’t know why people don’t learn. For now, I will say we must be careful as a nation”.

On his part, a top politician in Edo State, Pastor Ize-Iyamu, said: “I don’t want to jump to conclusion, but I hope this is not executive misuse of power, because the authorities at the airport were aware of the presence of the chopper; they gave it clearance to land and to pick the governor and it was possible for them to have paid whatever fee they needed to pay before or after the journey, but it is surprising that they were allowed to take-off, only to be called back when they were already airborne and thereafter delayed for hourse.

Ize-Iyamu continued: “This is not the first time a chopper will be coming to pick the Chief Executive of our (Edo) state, considering the terrain of parts of the country, where you cannot easily access by road or by direct flight, so I am surprised that this is happening now.”

Reacting also, Rev Obadan, a former deputy governor of Edo State, said the incident was vexatious, highly provocative and politically motivated”.

The Edo State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, however, described the allegation of Federal Government’s involvement in the Oshiomhole flight row as unfounded, saying Nigerians should rather commend the aviation ministry for the steps taken in recent times to ensure safer airspace. 

Flight not grounded—NAMA

In its response, yesterday, NAMA said the chartered helicopter, marked 5N-BPX AS335 and operated by OAS, was not grounded, but the pilot only asked to file a flight plan and manifest before take-off. 

NAMA management, led by Mr Supo Atobatele General Manager, Public Affairs, told aviation reporters in Lagos that what happened was that the pilot was shoddy in handling the flight as he initially refused to file the flight plan and manifest while waiting at the Government House to airlift the governor.

According to Mr Adeoye Oyinyinka, the NAMA Duty Controller, who was on duty at the Benin City Airport where the incident happened, the pilot of the helicopter, a Korean, called to say needed permission to lift off from the Government House, Benin-City for Akwa. He was asked if he had filed his flight plan and manifest, the NAMA official said.

Oyinyinka went on: “The pilot replied that he had the governor on board. He was asked to come to the airport to file his flight plan and manifest. The pilot lifted off from the Government House to the airport ,which is less than three minutes, and proceeded to file the necessary papers, after which the aircraft was allowed to depart.

 “Filing flight plan and manifest is a compulsory requirement for all aircraft before take-off. This is in the interest of those on board the aircraft in the event of any mishap. This will aid the search and rescue team in indentifying those on board”.

The Airspace Manager of Benin Airport, Mr Lawrence Okoye, corroborated what Oyinyinka said . “At10.18 am the helicopter landed at the airport and the pilot went straight to the Aeronautical Information Service (AIS) without manifest as he claimed he didn’t know the names of those on board. He was however assisted to write the names of those onboard for the sake of the governor”.

 Atobatele further said: “The Benin Airport Air Force Commandant, Air Commodore U.J. Atiku, told the pilot of the need to file in the necessary papers as a professional and should not give impression that the governor was denied departure for Awka”

“Amid all these, the governor sought to speak with the Airspace Manager on the cause of delay. The ASM was never given chance to explain the need to observe mandatory procedures for safety and security, rather was verbally assaulted severally while trying to explain the primary reason for the delay.

“The pilot ,Captain Vame, believed to be a Korean, later apologized to NAMA officials for his refusal to document his flight and pay the necessary charges. He pleaded that the incident should not be filed against him”.

The NAMA GM added: “There is no political issue in this case. NAMA is an air navigation service provider and we operate within globally acceptable standards. We are professionally guided by rules and procedures. The service we render borders on safety from the ground to the air and back to ground”.

Source: Legit.ng