Before
he appeared at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja on Monday, many people had
thought that the Chairman of Emergency Plan Implementation Committee of the
Ministry of Defence HIV and AIDS Programme, Major General Tahir Umar, was dead.
Actually, Umar bought the ticket for the Dana Airlines
plane that crashed in Lagos on Sunday, but he could not make the journey.
Newspapers had reported on Monday that the army officer
was among the 153 people that died in the crash.
But the Director of Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Bola
Koleosho, confirmed on Monday that Umar did not die in the Dana Air Crash.
He said Umar, who is the Medical Officer at the Defence
Headquarters bought the ticket but did not make the flight.
He said Umar was at the Army headquarters to alert the
authorities that he was not dead.
According to him, the general bought the ticket online but
decided not to make the trip.
Koleosho, however, declined to give reasons, why Umar
could not make the journey.
He said since it was reported that Umar died, the two
generals who answered Umar had been to the Army headquarters Abuja.
He said it was not the tradition of the Army to confirm
anybody dead without seeing the corpse and reaching the members of the family.
Koleosho stated, “There are two Generals Umar in the
Nigerian Army. The two of them came to my office today to say that they are
alive.
“Tahir Umar came to my office today. He said that he
bought the ticket but couldn’t make the flight. He is the Medical officer at
the Defence Headquarters.”
Also, the News Agency of Nigeria reported that Col
Mohammed Yerima, the Director Defence Information, in a statement on Monday,
said Umar was alive.
The statement said Umar purchased the ticket for the
ill-fated flight but could not make the trip.
It said the DHQ joined Umar and his family in thanking God
for saving his life.
Meanwhile, the family of Lt. Col. Ochigbo Jumbo, one of
the victims of Sunday’s Dana plane crash said on Monday afternoon that his
remains had yet to be recovered.
The deceased’s sister-in-law, who did not identify
herself, but spoke on behalf of his wife, Mercy, told our correspondent
on the telephone that her husband, Frank, was at Lagos State University
Teaching Hospital to identify and recover Ochigbo’s corpse but as at 4pm, they
had made no progress.
She said, “My husband, Frank, who is also the elder
brother of the deceased, has been at the mortuary since morning but has not
been able to retrieve the corpse.”
When asked if Dana Airlines had contacted the family, she
said she could not say.
Ochigbo, who was onboard the plane to attend a course at
Ibadan was one of the 153 victims.
He is survived by a wife and three sons.