ADC Demands Thorough Probe Of Enugu Air Aircraft Incident

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has demanded for a thorough probe of the mishap at the Benin Airport, involving an Enugu Air Embraer E170 aircraft.

The aircraft, in the fleet of the Enugu State-owned carrier reportedly overshot the runway, after landing at the Benin Airport at about 3.10pm local time on Thursday.

Enugu Air initially confirmed the incident, which it tagged “a runway excursion,” in a statement posted on its X-account, stating that all the 63 passengers and five crew members on board were safe and no injuries sustained.

The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), on its own part, announced that it had commenced an investigation into the runway excursion at Benin Airport, involving the Enugu Air Embraer E170 aircraft.

Reacting to the incident in a statement on Friday signed by
Comrade Adolphus Ude, Caretaker Secretary, ADC, Enugu State, the party demanded for a transparent, independent and impartial probe led by Nigerian civil aviation authorities, to ascertain the root cause of the incident.

The party called for the preservation of the evidence, such as the flight recorders, to prevent tampering the vital objective data needed for the investigation of the incident.

Quoting Enugu ADC: “Our attention has been drawn to media reports on the mishap, involving an Enugu Air aircraft at the Benin Airport on Thursday. We join other well-meaning Nigerians in thanking God that no life was lost in the air mishap involving our state carrier, Enugu Air on Thursday at Benin Airport.

“However we call on the civil aviation authorities in Nigeria and the air accident bureau to thoroughly investigate the cause of the crash to forestall future occurrence. There is need to preserve the evidence, such as the flight recorders, to prevent interested parties from tampering with the vital objective data needed for the investigation of the incident.

“We are happy to hear that NSIB had initiated a probe into the incident. Consequently, we demand that a preliminary report be issued swiftly, while requesting for regular, factual updates on the investigation to prevent public speculation.

“The primary goal of the probe must be to identify the root causes of the accident (whether mechanical failure, weather or human error), to ensure that necessary safety measures were implemented to forestall future occurrence. The focus should be on systemic safety improvement rather than assigning blame.

“In addition, efforts should be channeled towards ascertaining the air worthiness of all the aircrafts in the fleet of Enugu Air, to ensure that they are fit to operate in the Nigerian airspace.”

However, Enugu ADC noted that the incident has confirmed its initial skepticism about the prioritization and sustainability of the establishment of a state carrier by Enugu State Government, under Governor Peter Mba.

The party explained that its skepticism about the establishment of the Enugu Air was borne out of the antecedents of the Mba administration in handling huge projects, such as the Smart School projects and Type 3 Hospital.

“Some of the smart school projects collapsed. Some were either not constructed at all or abandoned as the contractor eloped with the money. In fact, one of the contractors, Fujimoto eloped with over N5bn. We learnt that the EFCC recovered N1.2bn from him. What happens to the balance?

“He demolished Ogige Main Market, the main commercial hub in Nsukka, the host community of University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) and erected a bus terminal in its place, throwing about 7,000 Nsukka traders out of business. Similar demolitions were done at Holy Ghost and Abakpa,” Enugu ADC stated.

The party maintained that the execution of most of the huge projects of the Mba administration fell short of the expectations of the people, on whom the government placed the financial burden of the infrastructure projects, through excessive taxation and levying.

ENDS