30 Days: House of Reps gives Dana deadline to pay compensation

Dana air crash

by Tolu Orekoya

The House of Representatives has directed Dana Air to pay at least the 30 percent compensation that was supposed to occur within 30 days of the crash, in a resolution yesterday. In a motion sponsored by Yakub Abiodun, the airline was given till next Tuesday to comply with the directive.

An excerpt from the Punch:

Abiodun who led the  debate on the motion had pointed out that his prayer was in line with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Act, which stipulates that 30 per cent of compensation due  to be paid to families of airborne crash victims within 30 days, while investigation into cause of such accidents continues.

Abiodun  who moved the motion under matters of urgent public importance argued that since section 48 of the Civil Aviation Act stipulated that an advance payment of 30 per cent of the SDR be made within 30 days, it was important that the House urge the management of Dana Air to comply immediately.

Deputy Leader of the House, Mr Leo Ogor, representing Isoko Federal Constituency  who supported the motion, however, said there was an urgent need to domesticate all international conventions or treaties entered by Nigeria with a view to giving them the force of law, as according to him, issues like this would be easily dealt with when they arise.

Also Reps  Haruna Kigbu, Nnena Elendu-Ukeje, Musa Sarki Adar, Peter Edeh and Kingsley Chinda in their separate contributions  described the development as unfortunate, arguing that it would amount to irresponsibility on the part of the House if nothing was done to compel Dana Air to act immediately, especially in the face of the trauma still being faced by families of victims who were yet to identify the remains of their loved ones.

Elendu Ukeje in his contribution described the compensation as a moral contract that must be complied. Also, Kigbu in his own contribution said “Dana should sooth some of the pains of the victims’ families in this moment of grief,” adding that it was unfortunate that almost a month after the tragic incident, such a requirement stipulated by law was yet to be complied with.

Also, the current compensation amount of $100,000 may be too little, according to the newspaper:

The Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, simply known as the Montreal Convention, adopted by a diplomatic meeting of member states of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, in 1999, stipulated a Special Drawing Rights, SDR, for victims of air crash, which current value is put at about $171,000 per passenger.

It has been almost a month since the troubled Dana Air flight 9J-992 crashed into a building killing all its passengers on board and a still unquantified number of people on the ground, on June 3, 2012.

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