STORY OF HOW NEW EFCC CHAIRMAN CHEATS DEATH IN 2005

THE INCREDIBLE STORY OF HOW THE NEW EFCC CHAIRMAN ESCAPED THE 2005 BELLVIEW AIR CRASH

By, Adedayo Fowowe

Ola Olukoyede, the recently appointed Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), may have been dead and buried if not for providence and divine intervention.

According to thegazellenews.com, his family may not have seen his remains.

Olukoyede, a Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), was scheduled to board Bellview Flight 210 on October 22, 2005.
He'd bought his plane ticket, gotten his boarding pass, and was ready to board that chilly evening in Lagos.

He'd even called his wife to let her know he'd be arriving on Bellview Flight 210.

Bellview Airline was the talk of the town back then. Very professional and well-liked.

But God was up to something and interfered.

Olukoyede stumbled into an old schoolmate as he was preparing to walk upstairs for the boarding process. 

When his friend inquired where he was going, he said he was heading to Abuja.

"My location, you'll fly with me," remarked the pal.

Olukoyede's protests that he had purchased his ticket and was ready to fly were ignored.

The Boeing 737-200 plane was carrying 111 passengers and six crew members, the most of whom were believed to be Nigerians.

At least ten Ghanaians, two Britons, two Gambians, and one each from Germany, Mali, and South Africa were also present. The presence of a US military officer on board the flight was also verified by US sources.

There was also one Sierra Leonean on board.
The flight was well-liked by Nigerians and expatriates traveling between the two cities.

Cheick Oumar Diarra, a General from Mali and Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); Waziri Mohammed, Chairman of the Nigeria Railway Corporation; and Abubakar Musa Argungu, a close aide to incumbent President Obasanjo and then Nigerian Postmaster General, were among the passengers.

Usman Umar, a member of the local council and the Chairman of Nigeria's Board of Directors of the National Programme on Immunisation, was also on board.

Captain Imasuen Lambert, First Officer Eshun Ernest, and Flight Engineer Steve Sani made up the cockpit crew.

On board the airplane were former Peoples Bank Chairman Maria Sokenu and Abimbola Ojora, daughter of Otunba Ojora and sister of former Kwara State First Lady, Toyin Ojora-Saraki.

In response to the loss of the 117 passengers and staff members on board, the federal government declared three days of national mourning.

at response to the tragedy, the governments of Ogun State and Nigeria decided to construct a memorial garden at Lisa Town.

 However, after President Obasanjo's departure from government in 2007, the memorial has been neglected and abandoned.

Welcome to the wonderful world and life of the new EFCC Chairman. of Ogun State and the Federal Government of Nigeria decided to create a memorial park in Lisa Town.

IHowever, after President Obasanjo's departure from government in 2007, the memorial has been neglected and abandoned.