…Nigerian Air Force Keeps Mum
An eyewitness has shared the last moments of retired Air Vice Marshal Osita Obierika, who died aboard a British Airways flight from London to Abuja on Monday.
The flight departed London’s Heathrow Airport at 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 5, for Abuja but was diverted to El Prat Airport in Barcelona, Spain, following the incident.
A passenger aboard the flight told THE WHISTLER that Obierika appeared too frail to travel and was accompanied by his 79-year-old wife, whom the witness described as equally weak.
“It was a pathetic situation. The man should never have travelled with his wife who is 79 years old and not too strong either,” the passenger said.
According to the eyewitness, Obierika and wife had flown from America to London with their children, but the children left the elderly couple in London to travel alone to Abuja.
“The children left them in London for the parents to proceed alone to Abuja. Quite traumatic,” the passenger recounted.
“The Minister of Foreign Affairs was on board and helped to get the corpse to the mortuary with embassy officials,” the passenger told THE WHISTLER.
Another passenger, a pregnant lady, was said to have also fainted during the flight due to an asthma attack.
An officer of the Nigerian Air Force, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told THE WHISTLER that no such information had reached NAF.
“The NAF isn’t aware of this incident,” the source said.
Further efforts to contact the Nigerian Air Force Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, proved abortive.
Calls and messages were neither answered nor returned as of press time.
British Airways had announced to passengers that a replacement aircraft would continue the journey to Abuja. Initially scheduled to depart Barcelona at 2:00 p.m. local time and arrive in Abuja at 7:00 p.m., the departure was later adjusted to 2:50 p.m., with arrival expected around 5:45 p.m. Nigerian time.
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