Crash: Families want overseas treatment for Suntai’s aides

FAMILIES of the injured aides of Taraba State Governor Dambaba Suntai, on Sunday, asked the government to extend same overseas treatment to their loved ones as their injured boss.

The governor and the aides were the occupants of the Cessna 208, 5N-BMJ Jet that crashed at the Yola airport last Thursday.

Some members of the families who craved anonymity told journalists in Abuja that if the governor could be flown to Germany, it showed that the government lacked confidence in the local hospitals.

They spoke their minds when the injured aides were transferred from Yola to the National Hospital, Abuja, 30 hours after Suntai was flown abroad.

“Considering the degree of injuries, I think they should be transferred overseas. After all what is good for the governor will still be good for his aides. They were in the same aircraft with the governor and I think they should be given the same treatment like him,” one of them said.

Our correspondent learnt in Abuja on Sunday that Suntai’s Aide de Camp, Dasat Iliya, had been lying unconscious at the Yola hospital since the incident that also left the governor in critical condition.

But the governor who had been airlifted to the National Hospital on Friday was early on Saturday flown to Germany for treatment while the injured aides were brought to the National Hospital on Sunday.

The Chief Detail to the Governor, Joel Dan, was also said to be having a fractured arm while the governor’s Chief Security Officer, Timo Dangana, reportedly had his two legs damaged.

Both Dan and Dangana had been reportedly taken to Jalingo, Taraba State Capital for treatment before they were transferred to Abuja Sunday night.

The governor’s aides were brought to the National Hospital in a convoy of siren-blaring ambulances at 6.40pm on Sunday.