Five months after the Dana Airline crash which claimed about 200 lives, families of some of the victims have accused the insurer of the ill-fated aircraft, Prestige Assurance, of insensitivity for refusing to pay the claims of their dead beloved ones.
A lawyer said the law stipulates that within 30 days from crash date, the advance payment of $30,000 should be made to those who are entitled to it.
Some of the family members, who spoke with The Nation, lamented that they have been subjected to untold hardship since the sudden death of their breadwinners and the failure of Prestige Assurance to pay them. They also lamented that they had submitted all the papers demanded by Dana Air and the insurance firm for payment only for them to remain mum.
Mr James Okafor, who lost his brother, Nwabuwa, in the crash, said he conveyed the body from Lagos to Anambra State, bore his burial expenses, and has since been taking care of the late man’s children from his meagre income.
Also, Mrs Titi Shobowale, who lost her husband, Femi, said she had submitted the papers demanded by the airline and the insurance firm but had not received any response from them.
“I have completed all the fromalties, yet I have not recieved any positive response from either Prestige Assurance or Dana. I am tired of the ‘come today, come tomorrow’ by the two of them,” she said.
For Chief Obi Awani, a retiree, who lost his daughter and a nine- month-old grandson, it was a bitter tale too. According to him, after submitting all the documents demanded by the airline and the insurance firm, he was told that there was a division in his family and was advised to go and sort it out. “That was strange to me because there was no such problem among my family members,” he said.
Efforts to get the reaction of the management of Prestige Assurance proved futile as phone calls put to its Managing Director, Dr Anand Prakash Mittal, were not picked while the short message service (SMS) sent to him failed to elicit any response.
But the spokesman of Dana Airlines, Mr Tony Usidameh, said it was not true that Dana is uncaring. According to him, the families of about 80 families out of all the victims have been paid the mandatory $30,000. The balance would come from the reinsurers abroad, he said.
He said the cause of the delay was not from Dana and that it was difficult for the families to obtain letters of administration from the court as demanded by law. He assured that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and Dana Air were working with the Lagos State government to simplify the process.
He said the insurers would only pay if they have the right documents.
He said Dana does not delight in the suffering of the families of those who died in the crash. On the $15,000, he said it was not true. He said the law stipulates $30,000 as compensation for a victim and that is what they were paying.
He added that another cause of the delay for payment was of multiple family members coming for claims.
Meanwhile, lawyers representing some of the victims’families have accused the airline and its insurer of playing games with Nigerians and the families of the dead to frustrate them.
They said it was a deception against Nigeria and its people and wondered why the management of the airline and the insurance firm were treating Nigerians like that.
They appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, the Minister of Aviation, Mrs Stella Oduah and the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to prevail on the Prestige Assurance’s and Dana Air’s management to pay the mandatory $30,000 due to the surviving family members of the victims.
They called on the Senate and House Committees on Aviation and the NCCA Director-General, Mr Harold Demuren and other Nigerians to compel Dana Airline and Prestige Assurance to pay the mandatory compensation to alleviate the sufferings prevailing in these families
A group of legal practitioners, Dr Bunmi Awoyemi of the M.O. Awoyemi & Co., Mr Gbenga Eguntola, an aviation lawyer and Mr Aminu Ayama of H. Ibrahim & Co, Kano, who represent about 40 of the affected families, said they had done everything possible to get Prestige Assurance and the airline to alleviate the sufferings of the family members of the victims.
Awoyemi said the law states that within 30 days from the crash date, $30,000 should be paid to those who are legally entitled to it.
But after over five months, he said, Dana and its insurers have only paid 13 out of the 40 families. He said Prestige Assurance paid $15,000 instead of $30,000 to four more.
He gave their names as: Rajulie Oyosoro; Ugabio Oyosoro; Jessica Ibe and Echendu Ibe. He said the others had not had any payment even after submitting their documents.
Eguntola accused the airline and its insurer of not doing enough for the 18 ground victims whom, he said, had approached him to help seek redress.
Dana Air was not interested in bearing their responsibilities, he alleged.
Ayama said of the five families he represents, about 25 orphans were left without resources, adding that many of them were out of school.
