Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State and the Nigerian Airspace Management Authority (NAMA) have continued to trade blames over Friday’s recall and delay of the governor’s chartered copter, which made him to miss the burial of the wife of President Goodluck Jonathan’s adviser on inter-party affairs, Senator Ben Obi. The aircraft had already spent about five minutes in the air when the pilot was ordered to abort the flight to Anambra State and return to the Benin City Airport from where the flight originated.

The incident, according to Oshiomhole’s Special Adviser on the Media, Prince Kazeem Afegbua, was deliberate and meant to endanger the governor’s life. Afegbua, who disclosed that Oshiomhole is still shocked by the incident, alleged that NAMA must have acted in accordance with an order from superior quarters.

“We are still expecting an apology from NAMA and the management for endangering the life of the number one citizen of Edo State who was duly elected by the overwhelming good people of the state and whose mandate was renewed on July 14, 2012. We smell rat in this whole embarrassing situation,” Afegbua told the Lagos-based Sunday Vanguard. “We want to believe that the opposition (PDP) had a hand in this because, under normal circumstances, helicopters are not under any aviation rules to land at the airport to pick their passengers; helicopters fly within uncontrolled airspace hence the idea of fees or no fees does not arise.

“What if the helicopter gets to a village in Awka where there is no airport, is it going to pay landing fees to the villagers?

“If the helicopter had gone to Iyamhu, the village of Governor Oshiomhole, to pick him, would they have instructed him to come to Benin Airport for their so-called manifest and landing fee before taking him to his destination? As this is not the first time the helicopter was picking the Comrade Governor to some other locations outside Benin City, the action of NAMA and its overzealous management at Benin Airport and other places was deliberately meant to endanger the life of the Comrade Governor.”

Afegbua said the state government was demanding an inquiry into the incident, adding: “Otherwise we will take up the issue formally on our own. NAMA must explain to us as a government why it had to return a helicopter that was already air-borne to Benin-City and deliberately delayed the flight for more than one hour thirty minutes even when their so-called formalities had been met.

“We can understand that we are in an era of democratic dictatorship and we have a very strong feeling that the NAMA Manager at Benin Airport did not act alone because he told the Comrade Governor, point-blank, that they will ground that helicopter. Even when the Comrade Governor sued for his understanding, he was still threatening fire and brimstone against the rules of helicopter operation in the aviation industry.

“As a government, we are going to be extra-ordinarily vigilant because the PDP in Edo State and the country at large are becoming desperate, hence we insist that there must be an investigation into the immediate and remote causes of this embarrassment to Edo State governor in the interest of Nigerians and our democracy.”

NAMA, however, is blaming the pilot, Captain Vame, for the incident while insisting that the copter was never grounded. Mr. Supo Atobatele, NAMA General Manager, Public Affairs, yesterday told aviation reporters in Lagos that the pilot of the copter marked 5N-BPX AS335 and operated by OAS initially refused to file the flight plan and manifest while waiting at the Government House to airlift Governor Oshiomhole.

On his part, Mr Adeoye Oyinyinka, the NAMA Duty Controller, who was on duty at the Benin City Airport where the incident happened, said the pilot called to say that needed permission to lift off from the Government House for Awka, the Anambra State capital, and was asked if he had filed his flight plan and manifest.

According to Oyinyinka, “The pilot replied that he had the governor on board. He was asked to come to the airport to file his flight plan and manifest. The pilot lifted off from the Government House to the airport, which is less than three minutes, and proceeded to file the necessary papers, after which the aircraft was allowed to depart.

“Filing flight plan and manifest is a compulsory requirement for all aircraft before take-off. This is in the interest of those on board the aircraft in the event of any mishap. This will aid the search and rescue team in indentifying those on board.”

Mr. Lawrence Okoye, the Airspace Manager of Benin Airport, corroborated what Oyinyinka said. His words: “At 10:18 a.m. the helicopter landed at the airport and the pilot went straight to the Aeronautical Information Service (AIS) without manifest as he claimed he didn’t know the names of those on board. He was however assisted to write the names of those onboard for the sake of the governor.”

Atobatele added further details, saying: “The Benin Airport Air Force Commandant, Air Commodore U.J. Atiku, told the pilot of the need to file in the necessary papers as a professional and should not give impression that the governor was denied departure for Awka.

“Amid all these, the governor sought to speak with the Airspace Manager on the cause of delay. The ASM was never given chance to explain the need to observe mandatory procedures for safety and security, rather was verbally assaulted severally while trying to explain the primary reason for the delay.

“The pilot, Captain Vame, believed to be a Korean, later apologised to NAMA officials for his refusal to document his flight and pay the necessary charges. He pleaded that the incident should not be filed against him.

“There is no political issue in this case. NAMA is an air navigation service provider and we operate within globally acceptable standards. We are professionally guided by rules and procedures. The service we render borders on safety from the ground to the air and back to ground.”

•Photo shows Governor Oshiomhole.

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