The family of Lt. Adeyemi
Sowole, the co-pilot of the Navy helicopter which crashed on Saturday in
Bayelsa State have expressed disappointment that authorities have only reckoned
with the dignitaries that died on the flight.
The co-pilot’s elder brother, Taiwo,
said the government had not treated other victims as important as the two
dignitaries – Gen. Andrew Azazi and Governor Patrick Yakowa – on board.
Taiwo, spoke with our correspondent
on Tuesday, at the family’s 28, Akintoye Street, Iyana Ipaja, Lagos home.
The ambience was sombre, as relations
and friends sat around Adeyemi’s father, Solomon, in the family’s sitting room.
Words were few. But some of the
sympathisers intermittently offered prayers to break the silence.
The deceased’s brother said, “All
lives are equal. At this point, the right thing to do is for government
to treat all the victims with respect and give them the same recognition.
“But it seems as if only the
dignitaries on board the helicopter died. Adeyemi is also important.
“Adeyemi and a senior colleague lost
their lives also. They are equally precious to their families. It was their
responsibility to transport the dignitaries even though their own lives were on
the line.”
Another family member, an aunt of the
deceased, broke down in tears. She expressed sadness that while the news about
the crash was circulating, authorities only focused on Yakowa and Azazi.
“It’s like the people in
government see our son and his colleague as unimportant. Is it only Azazi and
Yakowa that died in that crash? Why can’t they sympathise with us as well? The
incident happened and all they were talking about were the two government
officials on board,” the aunt, who declined to give her name, stated.
Taiwo described his brother as a
humble man, who loved his job since he was young.
He said he never believed his
brother would die doing what he loved best: flying.
Adeyemi was the fifth child of his
parents’ seven children.
Taiwo said, “We called him ‘Yemi Olopa (policeman)’
because he always behaved like one. But when he got into the Nigerian Defence
Academy, it was a dream come true for him.
“He loved what he did so much that he
never expressed fear at any point in time about the nature of the job.”
Adeyemi graduated from the NDA in
2005 having studied Geography and trained as a pilot.
Taiwo said the last time he spoke
with his brother was about 10 days before the crash.
Adeyemi, according to him, was very
concerned about their father’s coming 80th birthday, which the family had
scheduled for celebration in March 2013.
“Adeyemi insisted we should start
planning for the birthday now. We discussed a lot of things, the hall to
be used, the expenses and many other things. He said we would discuss it more
when he comes home for Christmas,” Taiwo said.
Taiwo got the news about his
brother’s death at 8pm on Saturday through one of his brothers.
“All we heard initially was that his
helicopter crashed and we were praying at the time that it will turn out to be
a hoax. We were hoping it would be a mistake because we thought Navy pilots
only fly military personnel or the President and Vice-President,” he said.
Two of Adeyemi’s other siblings
– Owolabi and Aderonke – have not come to terms with the fact that their
brother was dead.
Owolabi explained that the last time
Adeyemi called him, it was also to discuss their father’s coming birthday
celebration.
He became suspicious when a friend of
the deceased, who is close to the family, called him to request for his
parents’ number.
“He called but did not say anything.
He called my dad and mum and said he only wanted to find out how they were
doing. He eventually called me again to break the news. I can’t believe I’m not
going to see my brother again,” he said.
Aderonke, who was her brother’s
“pet,” broke down in tears as she described the last time she spoke with
him.
She said, “Anytime he was coming
home, I would ask what he wanted to eat and he would say ‘you should know
because you are my mum.’
“Few days before the incident, I
asked if he was coming home for Christmas and he jokingly said ‘no’. I told him
he dared not. He said he would come and I was looking forward to seeing him. I
still wish all this noise about his death is just a rumour.”