Most residents displaced by the June 3, 2012 DANA plane crash have indicated their decision to reside in a poorly equipped shelter around Ogba instead of a relief center provided by the Lagos State Government in Ipaja-Ayobo area of the state. The shelter in Ogba is financed by a few philanthropic individuals moved by the plight of those who lost their abodes when the DANA plane crashed into a densely populated area.
Most residents displaced by the June 3, 2012 DANA plane crash have indicated their decision to reside in a poorly equipped shelter around Ogba instead of a relief center provided by the Lagos State Government in Ipaja-Ayobo area of the state. The shelter in Ogba is financed by a few philanthropic individuals moved by the plight of those who lost their abodes when the DANA plane crashed into a densely populated area.
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The residents based their rejection of the state government’s shelter on distance between their destroyed homes and the government-offered shelter. The residents whose apartments were either destroyed or rendered uninhabitable by the crash of DANA Flight 992 described the location of the government’s relief center as flawed.
The crash site residents were ejected from their buildings after state government officials inspected their buildings and determined that the structures had sustained severe damage as a result of the plane crash. The inspectors then recommended a temporary relocation of the inhabitants pending a lasting solution to properly compensate the displaced residents.
Officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency [LASEMA] had immediately moved the displaced residents to a temporary relief center in the Ipaja-Ayobo area. However, most of the supposed occupants of the relief center abandoned the center the following morning, deriding the state government’s gesture. Some of them told SaharaReporters that they moved away in protest on finding out that the shelter was originally a motherless babies’ home.
One of the displaced residents, who gave her name as Mrs. Bidemi, disclosed why she decided to leave the government shelter. “When I looked around and saw that there were little children living there, I asked the children what they were doing and they told me that they had no parents and that’s why they are in a motherless babies’ home. I then told the man that took us there that I have parents, so why was I taken here?” Ms. Bidemi added that she was not pleased with the response she got. She revealed that she and other displaced victims were not convinced by the LASEMA official’s explanation that the shelter was to serve as a temporary relief center. The next day, Ms. Bidemi and many other displaced persons took off without notifying their movement facilitators.
In numerous interviews, many other displaced people noted that the condition of the government relief center was not their only complaint. They added that they were uncomfortable with the distance between the temporary relief center and their wrecked homes as well as places of work and other daily activities.
SaharaReporters was unable to determine how long the furnished home at Ipaja-Ayobo has been rented for, especially as the supposed beneficiaries have rejected it.
Some of the residents confirmed that the management of DANA airline had also furnished them another apartment also at Ipaja-Ayobo, different from the shelter provided by LASEMA. Even so, they said they also rejected the furnished apartment on account of its location.
Mr. Gbenga Julius, one of the prospective beneficiaries of the relief gesture, said the DANA apartment would mean he would shuttle between the provided abode and Iju-Ishaga within three hours of everyday.
“My work place is around here [Iju-Ishaga] and I also have to take my children to school every morning. It will be too much stress and cost to me. I can’t cope with that,” said Mr. Julius, who also rejected the Ipaja-Ayobo relief center.
Those who spoke to us indicated that many of the residents were now squatting with neighbors. Besides, they noted that many displaced victims were happier with a temporary relief camp provided by a group of individual philanthropists at Ogba, a location with a 20-minute drive from their affected homes. “These philanthropists have shown concern and deep sympathy with us,” said one of the affected men.
The private group of philanthropists said it is assisting to keep together the displaced fellows within their locality so that the effect of the suddenness of their eviction can be mitigated until they are able to pick up the pieces of their lives again.
The group’s media mouthpiece, Ms. Ireti Bakare, said their project was without government’s support, adding that the initiative to assist the displaced residents began when some public-minded individuals communicated on twitter and started gathering shoes, clothes and food items to support the fellows.
“Five of us started it and as hours rolled into days, more people are getting involved,” Ms. Bakare told SaharaReporters this morning. She added that the group was putting up a multi-faith candle light procession for the dead victims of the crash this Sunday.
Many displaced fellows praised the relief camp provided by the private philanthropic group, citing its closeness to their destroyed homes.
Appearing on SaharaTV last week, Bolatito Kareem, one of the displaced persons, dismissed the government-funded shelter. "I don't even know the place because I don't even want to live at that distance for any reason," said Mr. Kareem.
SaharaReporters has determined that the temporary relief camp provided by the private philanthropic group is for only two months. A few of the displaced victims were anxious about their fate once the two months of the temporary shelter lapse. They stated that their rejection of the government/DANA relief accommodation and uncertainty about proper compensation for the 45 displaced inhabitants of the crash site may translate into a bleak future once the two-month period of their temporary shelter runs out.
Most of the families of the dead passengers on the DANA flight are yet to retrieve the remains of their relatives for burial, and they do not know when to expect compensations promised by the management of the crashed airline. The displaced residents of the tragic crash site fear that their condition may be even worse once the eight-week shelter provided by the private group is no longer available. One resident told SaharaReporters that the government’s provision of a furnished apartment for them at Ayobo-Ipaja may have served sufficient hint that the displaced fellows may not get much attention for proper restoration of life and a return to order any time soon.
The relief camp provided by the private philanthropic group consists of three unfurnished bedrooms sitting on some 650 square meters of land in Ogba. Most of the displaced victims had lost their belongings after the crash as burglars had made away with their belongings after the beleaguered residents were forcibly ejected by security operatives.
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