11th March, 2019
The Nigerian Insurers’ Association (NIA) has commiserated with the family members of the Nigerians who died in the Ethiopian Airline plane crash of March 10.
The Chairman of the association, Mr Tope Smart, made this known in Lagos on Monday.
The flight ET302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi in Kenya crashed about six minutes after take-off, killing all 149 passengers and eight crew members on board.
Smart said: “The Nigerian victims were identified as a popular Nigerian-born Canadian professor and writer, Pius Adesanmi, and Ambassador Abiodun Bashua, a former Joint Special Representative for the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur, Sudan.
“The Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, where Adesanmi was a lecturer had said that the contributions of Adesnami to Carleton are immeasurable and he remained scholar and teacher of the highest calibre who left a deep imprint on Carleton.”
He said that Nigeria as country had lost great intellectuals, who made the country proud in advanced countries like Canada.
“The effect of the loss of these gems is invaluable.
“We pray that there won’t be a repeat of such occurrence, as it remains a colossal loss to the entire nation also.
“Also on board of the flight were 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians, eight Chinese, eight Italians, eight Americans, and seven people each from France and United Kingdom and seven crew members, among others,” he stated.