Dana crash victims' families laud NCAA over compensation

By The Citizen

Families of victims of the ill-fated Dana Air plane crash and their solicitors have lauded the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for fast-tracking the process of getting the 70 per cent balance of the $100,000 compensation they are entitled to.

This came after a meeting hosted by the authority on Wednesday at its headquarters annex where the victims' families and their solicitors met with officials of the Lagos State Probate Registry to fast-track the issuance of the letter of administration as earlier solicited on their behalf by the Director General of NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren.

Bunmi Ibraheem, a solicitor to one of the families, commended the NCAA for assiduously working with the Lagos State government and other relevant agencies to ensure that the compensations were paid, adding that Demuren had impressed the families and their solicitors by keeping the promises he made during the two previous meetings they had with him.

According to her, Demuren promised to appeal to Lagos State Chief Judge for waivers of charges in the processing of letter of administration from the Probate Registry, which is the prerequisite for administering the compensation, and this he has done.

'The DG promised to bring down to NCAA the Probate Registry where all the victims' families will come and fill forms for the processing of the letter of administration and the submission of other required documents and this is what we are witnessing today.'

In the same vein, a solicitor, Mr. Kola Olapoju, was full of praises for Demuren and his team for doing what he said no government agency had done before.

On his part, Akinlola Cole, a representative of one of the victims' families, declared: 'This is his first time I am seeing an organisation waking up to its responsibilities, and beyond doing it right, making promises and fulfilling them.'

He expressed appreciation to the NCAA and the Lagos State government for their contributions, support and commitment towards the compensation exercise.

In another development, Mr. Kola Olapoju said the process for obtaining orders of guardianship for those that need it will also enjoy the benefits of the waivers given to those processing the letter of administration. He said although the process is longer, they will do everything to make it short so that the two months' deadline can be met and everything about the compensation done with.

The meeting was presided over by NCAA's Head of Aeromedical Standards, Dr. Teresa Bassey and the General Manager in charge of Air Transport Regulation, Mrs. Antonia Vincent.

Highpoint of the meeting was an appeal to the victims' families not present at the meeting to come forward and take advantage of the waivers offer secured by NCAA from Lagos State government and process their letters of administration in earnest so that their claims could be settled within the two months' deadline fixed by the Federal Government. (Guardian)