As the nation awaits the release of the investigation into the air crash that claimed the lives of 160 officers and men of the Nigerian Armed Forces who perished in the ill fated C-130 plane in Ejigbo, Lagos 18 years ago, Federal Government has promised to ensure that all the entitlements and death benefits due to the widows and children of the deceased are paid.
The Minister of Defence, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode gave this assurance yesterday during the inspection visit to the new permanent site of the Military Pension Board (MPB) to ensure that it meets the required standard ahead of its Commissioning by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Kayode maintained that the lingering issue of the outstanding pension and gratuity due to the widows and families of the 160 military officers and personnel who perished on September 26, 1992 will be resolved.
It could be recalled that following inaction on the part of the Federal Government to comply with the Terms and Conditions of Service Nigerian Army Officers 1984 for Pensions, Gratuities and other Benefits to Dependants of Officers and Men who died on active service, the widows of the 160 Officers and men in 2000 petitioned the Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission chaired by Justice Oputa in a petition No. HRVIC/725 of June 29, 2001, where they entered into an Memorandum of Understanding with the Defence Headquarters to seek for an amicable settlement of the dispute.

“I have requested for the file which is already on my table, and I assure you that for these widows; we will right the wrongs that have been done to them”, he said.
The Defence Minister reiterated that the issued will be resolved and added that the Federal Government is committed to the welfare of pensioners who has faced difficult times accessing their pensions.
He said that President Goodluck Jonathan has been very active concerning the welfare of the Nigerian workers especially the retired ones, and are working at harmonisation of all pension and arrears.

“Since Mr. President came to office, he has been proactive about all issues concerning welfare of the Nigerian workers especially the retired ones. So he is not joking about anything concerning pensions. Few months ago he paid all the arrears and now he is working towards harmonisation of pension”, he said.
Also speaking, the Chairman, Military Pensions Board, Brigadier General Bitrus Kwaji, said that the permanent site will provide a one stop shop for all pensioners, adding that “their problems will be solved in a matter of minutes”.

“In our former site, we use to have a lot of challenges in terms of documentation because some of our files are still in Lagos”, Bitrus explained.
He said that the new permanent site of the Military Pension Board is expected to be commissioned by President Goodluck Jonathan next week Friday, November 19, 2010.
www.thisdayonline.com

This country is rather an unfortunate one for us especially the dependents of these bright officers that went down in one swoop on that black saturday, i cant believe that after 18 years, no report has been has issued on the investigation of the crashed C130. I still remember one of the wives of the dead officers that gave birth about a week before the unfortunate crash, one can imagine how the woman could have coped till date. Its raher unfortunate. God bless their souls.

For this singular act, Jonathan should be president for life. I remember many of my friends with military fathers in school then losing their dads in that crash. I B B the devil promised heaven but didn't do a single thing for those families.

See political strategy. This guy is smart

Smarther than rat,

GEJ -Surely he is very smart and wise.he needs to revisits unanswered questions,unfinished projects,pays attention to d masses i.e minimum wages or maximum wages.put smiles on the faces of nigerian. i bet you he will win the election with a big gap.nigerians are tired of leaders that are callous.less talk more actions is what they want.God bless Nigeria

ROTFLMAO

This is proper political masterstroke.

Whoever advised GEJ of this just handed him the presidential ticket. . . . .well, almost!

I think this might end IBB's hope of the SE vote. I almost forgot this calamity.

It is the proper thing to do. The C-130 crashed in the swamps and no rescue mission was allowed anywhere the area for days on end, just to ensure there was no survivors.
The loopy excuse was that the terrain was too swampy. I wonder how the locals move around? I wonder if too swampy for boats? And I wonder how swamplands are recovered for residential purposes by non-expert Nigerians?

Story has it that IBB saw a cadre of youthful officers as a threat to his life presidency ambitions, got them on a plane, and a bomb went off when it was over Ejigbo. . .

To compound issues, the widows and kids the men left behind were left to rot away in pernury and denied any sort of help from the state. Just what sort of demon is IBB?

We know IBB is evil, but it shocks me that OBJ,ABDULSALAMI, UMYA all did nothing about this case.

na_so:

We know IBB is evil, but it shocks me that OBJ,ABDULSALAMI, UMYA all did nothing about this case.

Abdulsalami is IBB's cousin, so that might answer for one of the actors shameful behaviour. IBB imposed Obasanjo on the nation, that takes care of Obj's lack of action. As for Yar Adua, I don't even think that guy knew the meaning of his own name.

perfect political gimmick to whip up sentiment and nail the ambitious badamasi babangida

Beaf:

It is the proper thing to do. The C-130 crashed in the swamps and no rescue mission was allowed anywhere the area for days on end, just to ensure there was no survivors.
The loopy excuse was that the terrain was too swampy. I wonder how the locals move around? I wonder if too swampy for boats? And I wonder how swamplands are recovered for residential purposes by non-expert Nigerians?

Story has it that IBB saw a cadre of youthful officers as a threat to his life presidency ambitions, got them on a plane, and a bomb went off when it was over Ejigbo. . .

To compound issues, the widows and kids the men left behind were left to rot away in pernury and denied any sort of help from the state. Just what sort of demon is IBB?

No way. There was nothing really wrong with terrain. It was a swamp alright but I got to the site myself shortly after it happened. It was very close to my parents' house and I was around at the time. Anyway, This is a good way to go for Jonathan.

hawley:


No way. There was nothing really wrong with terrain. It was a swamp alright but I got to the site myself shortly after it happened. It was very close to my parents' house and I was around at the time. Anyway, This is a good way to go for Jonathan.

Wow! What did you witness at the scene?

hmmm, i think its too late for all these bruhaha, I lost my dad in that aircrash, i was 6yrs old, had a 9 month old younger brother. Fastforward, 18yrs after, i've graduated from a scottish University. My elder brothers are also working. Thank GOD my mother had a Job to fend for us. But where was the FG when the wives and families were being thrown out of their homes in the various barracks? where was the FG when we were sent away from school for non payment of fees? Where was the FG when the state governors refused to honour the pledges they made that they will give houses to each of the widows?
Where was the FG when i had to hawk iceblocks in order to pay my transport 2 school? I was lucky to win a state government scholarship eventually that paid my tuition through secondary school but what about the other widows who's lives ended after their husbands untimely demise??
Were we expected to "pause" our lives for 18yrs while the Nigerian Government got their acts together? Like i said my younger brother was born in Jan, dad died in sept. that baby who never knew his dad is an adult today, he is in UNI 2day, is the FG going to pay my mother for feeding, housing, training us through the past 18yrs.
I've said more than i need to say about this on a public forum. I am just thankful to GOD that he has placed my family where we have no need for the FG promises nor help

airneh:

hmmm, i think its too late for all these bruhaha, I lost my dad in that aircrash, i was 6yrs old, had a 9 month old younger brother. Fastforward, 18yrs after, i've graduated from a scottish University. My elder brothers are also working. Thank GOD my mother had a Job to fend for us. But where was the FG when the wives and families were being thrown out of their homes in the various barracks? where was the FG when we were sent away from school for non payment of fees? Where was the FG when the state governors refused to honour the pledges they made that they will give houses to each of the widows?
Where was the FG when i had to hawk iceblocks in order to pay my transport 2 school? I was lucky to win a state government scholarship eventually that paid my tuition through secondary school but what about the other widows who's lives ended after their husbands untimely demise??
Were we expected to "pause" our lives for 18yrs while the Nigerian Government got their acts together? Like i said my younger brother was born in Jan, dad died in sept. that baby who never knew his dad is an adult today, he is in UNI 2day, is the FG going to pay my mother for feeding, housing, training us through the past 18yrs.
I've said more than i need to say about this on a public forum. I am just thankful to GOD that he has placed my family where we have no need for the FG promises nor help

I feel you. It is only God that can salve your heart and take care of cases like yours. By some miracle, you have come through.
With all the issues you have raised, it is pertinent that govt pays each family compensation and see's to it that all the lying promises of the past are fulfilled. Nothing is going to be enough, but govt must go a step further.

airneh:

hmmm, i think its too late for all these bruhaha, I lost my dad in that aircrash, i was 6yrs old, had a 9 month old younger brother. Fastforward, 18yrs after, i've graduated from a scottish University. My elder brothers are also working. Thank GOD my mother had a Job to fend for us. But where was the FG when the wives and families were being thrown out of their homes in the various barracks? where was the FG when we were sent away from school for non payment of fees? Where was the FG when the state governors refused to honour the pledges they made that they will give houses to each of the widows?
Where was the FG when i had to hawk iceblocks in order to pay my transport 2 school? I was lucky to win a state government scholarship eventually that paid my tuition through secondary school but what about the other widows who's lives ended after their husbands untimely demise??
Were we expected to "pause" our lives for 18yrs while the Nigerian Government got their acts together? Like i said my younger brother was born in Jan, dad died in sept. that baby who never knew his dad is an adult today, he is in UNI 2day, is the FG going to pay my mother for feeding, housing, training us through the past 18yrs.
I've said more than i need to say about this on a public forum. I am just thankful to GOD that he has placed my family where we have no need for the FG promises nor help

Ur post brought tears to my eyes,, my Dad was an army officer then,n we lived in the barracks,we had a neighbour that was involved in that crash,he had a beautiful family, they had it goin on,( i think i was like 8yrs old,then,but i remember,we used to go to their house for parties ,they were always traveling abroad,they had twin daughters with really long hair,very pretty girls, just beautiful warm family, n then that disaster happened and everything changed,imagine light turning to darkness, first,they cut those lovely girls hairs, amidst screaming and shouting,i remember one of the twins running to our house screaming,pls dont let them cut my hair and they pulled her back(i didnt really understand it was a tradition then,it was just awful, their mum, that used to be one of the best dressed wife suddenly became old and withdrawn (she cut her hair too n the traditonal black attire), a few weeks after,they moved out of their house into our boys quarters,(imagine living in close to a mansion n now scorting in a 2 rooms boysquarter,),i remember we use to go play with them and they use to come to ours but the light had gone, , like 2 months after ,they moved out of the barracks to their hometown , we cried our eyes out, ,n that was the last contact we had with them.

So sad,

^ Unfortunately that was the case in many of those families . Many of them saw hell (and still are).

Back in 1997, we rented rooms in the building ( a big bungalow) of one of the naval officers that died from his widow. She had 5 kids ranging from 16 - 8. She didn't seem to be doing too badly - had 2 shops in navy town, and was lucky that her husband had left her property and 3 cars ( the church she belonged to stopped the family from seizing all their brothers property). she claimed the kids were schooling free. One thing i do recall that she was always travelling to Edo State to try to claim the houses promised to the widows. each time she came back it was with stories of promises upon promises. She was a hardworking woman toughened by the incident seeing that she had been more or less a housewife up till the husbands death . The the last i saw of her kids was way back in 2000 but i hear they have done well for themselves. This is Nigeria

uptill today 2014, no gratuity has been paid, no compensation has been met. Nigeria....