Tempers
flared on Tuesday as some victims of Dana Air plane crash of June 3 in
Iju-Isaga area of Lagos, rejected the N200,000 cheque offered each of
them by the airline.
Although not all the victims were present at the
Ayobo relief camp, the majority who turned up rejected the cheques on
the grounds that the amount was ridiculous.
Officials of Dana had insisted that the money was not
a compensation, but meant to ease the problem of accommodation of
victims, whose apartments were destroyed.
A victim, Daniel Omowunmi, whose duplex, warehouse
and vehicle were destroyed at the crash site, directed his anger at the
airline officials, saying “this is a crooked move. It is rubbish.”
His own cheque was for the sum of N500, 000 because of the magnitude of his loss.
Omowunmi, a pastor, said, “The way you are doing this
is crooked and unacceptable. For your information, I was living in a
duplex before and I cannot get a duplex for N500, 000 in Lagos.
“So, what is the money you are offering me for? As I
am talking to you, my aged mother is still in the hospital because of
the incident. This is an insult to us.”
A lawyer, Mr. Gbenga Odetola, who said he was representing about 20 of the victims, declined the offer on behalf of his clients.
Odetola said the categorisation made, according to
how the victims were affected, by the Lagos State Emergency Management
Agency, was not enough to take care of the problem.
He said, “We are questioning the parameters for the
catergorisation. What of those victims whose properties were vandalised
by street urchins and looters? The list of the victims is not exhaustive
at all.
“Apart from that, we wrote Dana a letter, they did not reply. Instead, they decided to call my clients to come for cheques.”
But LASEMA General Manager, Dr. Olufemi
Oke-Osanyintolu, whose agency coordinated the programme, said the
categorisation was done by his office according to international
standards.
He said it did not affect any legal step the victims might want to take.
PUNCH
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