The vice presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Fola Adeola, who narrowly escaped harm when the plane conveying him and other ACN leaders crash-landed at the Bauchi airstrip, said yesterday that the occupants never knew of the accident until they disembarked from the plane. He gave kudos to the pilot for exhibiting experience and professionalism in saving their lives.
He spoke with journalists in Abeokuta, explaining that the forceful landing of the 5N BMR aircraft they boarded was initially thought to be a minor incident. He has, however, called for probe of the incident.
Mr. Adeola, who said he was in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, to seek support of his party members in the forthcoming elections, revealed that it was on getting off the plane that he and others realised the incident could have been fatal.
"We never knew that our plane crashed-landed. I was amazed until somebody told me. It was Ribadu who later told me that I have just escaped death. When I looked outside from Ribadu's plane to view our own plane and I discovered that it was full of blood stain, but we were not conscious as at the time it was landing and I started wondering; is the situation that bad?"
Mr. Adeola said it is shameful that animals are found on the runway.
He lamented that the incident was turned into an issue because of the personalities involved, pointing out that if it were to be relatively unknown passengers, it would have been kept under the carpet, adding that everybody should be treated equally..
"It is a matter of lives, and I think we should not toy with any lives no matter the position of the person involved; we are all equal. It can happen to anybody, and there should also be probe. Thank God I am not dead neither am I injured, but it gave me a lot of concern."
On how he joined politics and became Vice-Presidential candidate, Mr. Adeola said, "It took me one week to accept to be the vice presidential candidate to Nuhu Ribadu."
