SOME thought it was another plane crash, others joked that it was queuing up to buy fuel, but it was an anxious moment Thursday morning when residents of Igando, a Lagos suburb, woke up to the unusual sight of a plane in a filling station.
A supposedly scrap private plane belonging to Gabriel Oduyemi World Crusade Ministry caused panic and fear Thursday morning as the rumour spread that another aircraft had crashed at Elewe-nla bus-stop in Igando, Lagos.
On hearing the news, hundreds of residents trooped out in droves to the scene with their camera phones and queued behind the high fence of Dapsey Oil filling station at Igando where the plane was packed.
When The Guardian got to the scene at around 9.30 am, it was gathered that the plane was parked by some group of people towing it down to Magbon in Badagry at around 200.am.
The private plane with registration number N972TF has an inscription of Gabriel Oduyemi World Crusade on it. Eyewitnesses said it was accompanied by some team of security agents towing it towards LASU-Ojo Road before one of the rear tyres burst.
With no smoke signs, no sign of crash-landing or blast, Gabriel Oduyemi World Crusade’s plane was parked directly at the back of a petrol tanker inside the Dapsey filling station at Elewe-nla bus stop.
One of the filling station attendants, who craved anonymity, also disclosed that the plane was allegedly removed from the Ikeja Airport to be towed down to Badagry by road when one of the tyres burst and it had to be parked at the filling station at about 2.00am.
According to him, one of the tyres of the private jet rupturted around Olorunfemi in Igando but the group was left with no option than to park it at Dapsey filling station that was the nearest place to them.
The police and some other security agents had tough time controlling the swelling crowd and the traffic the plane had generated.
Another senior officer at the filling station confirmed the story saying the private plane was being towed from the Lagos airport. He said: “The wings were removed and tied to the roof just to ensure safety since it will be going by road. The tyre burst along the line and they had to park it here through police intervention. The plane did not crash at all and if anyone says it crashed, where are the casualties and where are the impact on this filling station?” he asked rhetorically.
Attempts to speak to the Divisional Police Officer of Igando, Mr. Olugbemiga Adeoye met with a brick wall as he declined comment on the matter, claiming he lacks the power to speak on the matter.
“It is only the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer that can talk on this matter,” he said.
Meanwhile, the owner of the filling station, Oladapo Cocker lamented the way his business was paralysed for the whole of Thursday, disclosing that he was waiting for his lawyer before pressing charges against the owners of the airplane.
“I was called at about 1 am Thursday from the Divisional Police Officer of the area that a light aircraft they were towing to Badagry had broken down at the middle of the Highway and that they would need my premises to park it. I obliged them thinking it would be for few hours before they would come and remove it”.
To quell the conflicting reports, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had confirmed that it was an old plane being towed away to decongest the airport.
Meanwhile, another private jet, named Capital Airline with registration number 5N-BLN, was also seen cruising along Apapa and moving towards Oshodi very early in the morning Thursday. The plane was as at press time parked at Sanya bus stop, along the Apapa-Oshodi expressway unattended to and information about its destination is still very sketchy.
Source: The Guardian Nigeria
No comments:
Post a Comment