by Waheed Bakare
When Chima Iloka, one of the occupants of 12, Olaniyi Street, Iju-Ishaga area of Lagos heard a big bang on the roof of their building last Sunday, he had thought the building had collapsed.
But it later dawned on him that a plane had crashed into the building. He had escaped death by a whisker with his three-year-old daughter, Chidera.
While Chima, his daughter and his visitor, whom he identified simply as Onyedika escaped, his in-law, Nwabuwa Okafor, died in the incident.
The 32-year-old businessman, who described his escape as a “miracle,” spoke with our correspondent at the Accident and Emergency Ward of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, on Saturday.
He explained that he wanted to change the source of power supply in his flat when the crash occured.
Iloka said, “Immediately I touched the switch, I heard a big bang and everything came crashing on me and my daughter.
“I quickly grabbed my daughter and we escaped through the kitchen door. The impact was much on my apartment since I occupied the rear flat on the second floor, which was where the plane came from.
“Within a minute, there was a thick dust everywhere. I held on to my daughter and despite the thickness of the dust, I still managed to get downstairs.
“All along, I thought it was the building that collapsed. But when I got downstairs, I looked up and saw part of the plane in my apartment, it was then I knew that it was a plane crash. By then, the plane had exploded and there was fire everywhere.
“I later saw my visitor, who had also escaped.”
Iloka said his brother brother-in-law, not so lucky. He said when he could not find him, he remembered he was sleeping on the balcony at the time of the crash.
“I knew it would have been difficult for him to escape. Despite that, I was still expecting a miracle. But when I looked up towards my apartment, I could see someone who stretched out his arms. I guessed he was the one. I started calling, ‘Nwabuwa, Nwabuwa, Nwabuwa,’ but he could not answer,” he said,
Iloka, who sustained injuries on his left shoulder and legs, was limping when our correspondent visited him at the hospital. He said he recollected that a big object fell on his shoulder and legs as he was escaping.
He said Nwabuwa, 24, was married and had three children, adding that his wife gave birth to their third child about two months ago in their village in the East.
Iloka added that when he could not get a shop to start a trade, he opted for commercial motorcycling and only got a motorcycle on hire purchase about two weeks before the incident.
Although, his three-year-old daughter was injured, it was learnt that she was treated for minor bruises and was discharged that same day.
Chima said he had lost all he laboured for, adding that there was the need for him to be adequately compensated.
He said, “As I am talking to you, I have lost everything. If I am discharged, I don’t even know where to go to. My wife told me that they offered the survivors a temporary accommodation but she said the place was too far and they all rejected it.”
Our correspondent learnt that officials of Dana Airline visited Iloka and his cousin, Uche Okoye, who was also injured in the incident on Saturday.
While Iloka and others were upstairs, Okoye, 16, was downstairs washing clothes when the plane nosedived into the building. An object fell on Okoye’s back and he was injured. He is however, responding to treatment.
Iloka’s wife, Chidima, said before she got home from church, the news had spread like wildfire that a plane had crashed into their.
Chidima, who spoke with our correspondent on the telephone, said, “The church I attend is a stone’s throw to our house. We had thought the plane would crash in the church because we also noticed it had problem when it hovered above the church.
“Immediately I got to our street, the place was crowded but I still managed to get to our house. The house was already on fire and I started crying because I knew my family was inside.
“I started crying, shouting their names. But some of our neighbours calmed me down and assured me that they had seen my husband and my daughter and someone took me to where they were.”
Written by NEWSTRAWL ONLINE UPDATE
Sodiq Oyeleke is a Media, Human Resources, Project Management and Public Relations Practitioner
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