The Lagos State Government says families
of victims of the June 3, 2012 plane crash
at Iju-Ishaga have agreed to a low-key
remembrance programme at the site of
the crash on Monday.
It will be exactly a year on Monday since
the crash of the Dana Airline McDonnell
Douglas MD-83 in which all the 153
passengers on the Abuja-Lagos flight died.
Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr. Wale
Ahmed, and his Information counterpart,
Mr. Lateef Ibirogba, said in a briefing in
Lagos on Friday that the commemoration
would include unveiling of a cenotaph
constructed at the crash site.
Ahmed said, "It will be a low-key
programme because it is a solemn period.
We need to empathise with the victims'
families. We all feel their pain.
"We were not preparing for a crash at the
time that unfortunate incident occurred
but the state had enough structure on the
ground to move in and mitigate the
situation.
"We learnt a lot of lessons from the
incident. One of such lessons is the need
to reduce response time during
emergency situations. Reducing the time
lapse between an incident and when
emergency officials get there will save a
lot of lives."
He said as part of efforts to realise this, the
ministry had mandated the forming of
emergency units in each council area of
the state.
According to him, members of these units
will be the first responders, who will
ensure crowd control in any emergency
incident in their jurisdiction.
"A lot could have turned out better if the
crowd that besieged the Dana crash site
gave emergency officials a chance to
perform their duties effectively," Ahmed
said.
The commissioner, however, avoided
questions relating to compensation and
what the state had done for the families.
He explained that Governor Babatunde
Fashola will give an insight into the issue
when he unveils the cenotaph at the crash
site on Monday.
Ibirogba added that during the recovery
efforts following the Dana crash,
emergency vehicles faced the problem of
motorists, who were trying to compete for
right of way.
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