Former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo and 393 other passengers, on Wednesday, escaped a plane crash after an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft experienced difficulties while attempting to land at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. We reported that here.
Not long after the widely reported incident, one of the aides of former president Olusegun Obasanjo, Kehinde Akinyemi spoke to newsmen, saying that Obasanjo had been in his home in Abeokuta, Ogun State and never traveled.
It’s now obvious that the spokesman didn’t know the whereabout of his boss because Obasanjo has confirmed that he was on the flight and spoke about his experience during the turbulent moment.
The former president was returning from a conference in Addis Ababa when the Ethiopian Airlines plane he boarded found it difficult to land at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos due to wind interference and rainfall.
Speaking in an interview with Premiumtimes, the former president said he remained calm when the pilot was facing difficulties landing at the Lagos airport.
”I was on Ethiopian Airline. Rain just came down heavily. The pilot thought he could land. And he landed. He touched down. But I think he took a swift decision that he had to take off again. So he took off. If he did not, I think he probably would have overrun the runway. He then apologised and said he would try to land again. He tried again, and we landed safely. And we all clapped. He touched the ground. Then he took off and apologised and landed again at about 12.30. We spent just about 10 minutes in the air before we landed again.
While it all happened, I was reading my papers. One man, who was next to me, said, ‘Oga you no worry?’ I said, ‘Íf I worry, what will I do? If you are on a plane and you have a situation like this, why should you worry?’ I left everything in the hands of God” he said
The Director General of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture ( NACCIMA), Ambassador Ayo Olukani was also on the flight and also recounted his experience aboard the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 777-300.
On his part, Olukani said: “I thank you all for your calls and messages concerning the flight from Addis Ababa where I had gone to represent NACCIMA at the African Union / United Nations stakeholders Dialogue on the African Continental Free Trade Area.
