Richard Egbe’s death is perhaps the most inopportune of the 11 victims in the calamitous Jascon 4 boat accident. He was enjoying his mandatory two-week off when he was recalled for a special task on May 22. Four days later, he went down with the boat. He left an expectant wife, six children, an aged, recently widowed mother, unfulfilled dreams and tons of responsibilities. Joy Esigbemi and other members of the Ogbe family spoke exclusively with our Southsouth Regional Editor Shola O’Neil.
At the Ubeji residence of the Egbes, signs of unfinished businesses are visible everywhere: his children lay on sofas; his wife – heavily pregnant and groaning – sat on a threadbare mattress in a sparse bedroom; his younger brothers – Amaju and Oritsema – sat on the cold bare floor, all bedraggled, all garbed in black.
Outside the bungalow, an attached store under construction stood desolate. One of his siblings said Richard had meant to complete the building and set up a provisions shop for his wife so she could stay at home and take care of the growing family.
“He had also built one for my mother and was yet to stock it before his last journey,” Oritsema rued.
Richard was one of the 12 men who went on tension tow expenditure at the Single Buoy Mooring (SBM) #3 of Chevron Nigeria Limited aboard the Anchor Handling Tugboat, Jascon 4 on Sunday, May 26. All but the cook of the vessel returned in body bags.
The event leading to their deaths on that fateful morning of May 26 is still a mystery, but the grief and pains of the families, like the Egbes, are real. The management of West African Ventures (WALVIS), a subsidiary of Sea Truck Group and Chevron on whose duty the fatal accident occurred have kept mum so far.
When Mrs Egbe spoke to our reporter, her voice was low and burdened by sorrow. There was also unmistakable bitterness and anger as she recalled how her spouse was “dragged to his death”.
“He was on time off when he was recalled by his employer. He was asked to relieve someone who had to leave. It was the last time we saw him; if they had allowed him complete his rest period at home he would still be with us.
“It was my mother-in-law who called me to break the sad news. When I got to the house, she was crying. I was curious because she called to send me on an errand. When they told me what happened, I said it was not possible because my husband just went to work on Wednesday.
“See (pointing) that is his eldest son, he had just gained admission. When my husband was going to work, he asked him to come later for money to get the things he needs. Look at the daughter; she is in SS3 and preparing for her WAEC, the second son is about to learn a trade and he needs money to start off.”
Still, as painful as his death was, the family lamented that the treatment of WALVIS, on whose duty their breadwinner died, made the pain unbearable.
Displaying a certificate of long service given by WALVIS, Mrs Egbe said the late Richard, a boson, had served the company for over 17 years, first as a casual worker before his employment was ratified. She said he was due for another honour later in the year before his unfortunate end.
Amaju, a younger brother of the deceased, said: “Even the death of an animal does not deserve the kind of treatment meted on us and other victims’ families by the company. They acted as if our brother was a fowl that died.”
He lamented that the family got no formal information about the accident until the corpses were deposited at the morgue of a private hospital in Warri.
“They (WALVIS) called us to come and identify the body so that we would collect them for burial. They want to get the matter over with as soon as possible and they think that getting the corpses out of the mortuary is one way to do this.”
Speaking in the same vein, Mrs. Egbe said: “I feel aggrieved because since the incident, I have not heard from the company. This makes me feel very bad because my husband gave 17 years of his life to the services of this company and when he died they did not have the sensibility to come and inform us about what happened.
“Since I got the news I have been sitting here and up till this moment there has been no official response or visit from the company. There has been no condolence visit or even a letter to say, ‘sorry about your loss’. This is most callous and irresponsible.”
Besides, some of the deceased’ families are furious about the perceived slow rescue operation. Amaju said the late Egbe and some other colleagues would have survived if the company had reacted as soon as they got the boat’s distress call.
Although his assertion could not be independently confirmed, he said information available to the family indicated that rescue operation did not start until about 24 hours after.
“My brother did not drown, he died of suffocation. Drowning would have left his skin messed up but it was dry and normal when we saw his body; no bodyorpse will stay in a salt water and come out the same. We are riverside dwellers and we have seen the bodies of persons who drowned,” Amaju said.
Another sore spot for the family is the autopsy. His wife said they were unimpressed that they were not notified or represented when the post-mortem was carried out. She said the posture indicated that the company hadn’t told the whole truth about the accident.
The Warri Base Manager of the company, Mr. Prince Ebhodaghe, who was contacted by our reporter on telephone, refused to comment. He became very hostile when our reporter asked for information about the accident and allegations about his firm’s conduct.
“Do you know who I am? Do you know the person you are talking to?” he thundered repeatedly before hanging up.
Before Ebhodaghe’s telephone meltdown, our reporter had spoken with a top management staff of the company who assured that there is a package already in place for the grieving families. Our source, who asked not to be named until the package is official, said West African Ventures was picking the bills for the burial rites of the 11 victims, including a Ukrainian, whose remains had long been ferried to his home country.
“In line with the agreement they (dead staff) signed with our company, they will get 350 percent of their annual salaries as compensation. Apart from that we also paying for the coffins, transportation, burial rites and others,” the source added.
But angry relatives of the victims seemed unimpressed. Ochukor Idolor, a sibling of Basil Idolor accused the company of valuing money more than the deceased and the families they left behind. “WALVIS said they do not have life insurance policies for their staff, yet the sunken boat has insurance. Strange, is it not?”
