Dana Air crash: We had revelations 9 days before incident -Akpabio

Says prayers stopped 159 Akwa Ibom passengers from boarding crashed plane
AKWA Ibom State governor, Sir Godswill Obot Akpabio, has said the spiritual inclination of the people of Akwa Ibom had been working wonders, as it helped prevent indigenes of the state from perishing in the Dana plane crash which occurred on June 3, 2012.
Akpabio said he and other prayer warriors within the Government House got an inkling about the ill-fated Dana plane nine days before it crashed in Lagos, few minutes to landing and had taken precautionary measures to prevent the occurrence.
The governor said besides the revelations on the possible crash of the plane, those who were regularly patronising it from Akwa Ibom had filed repeated reports on its poor condition, while he said he personally advised the authorities of the airline to focus attention on repairing the plane.
The Dana airline, according to Akpabio, had been on Akwa Ibom, Abuja and Lagos routes on constant basis for two years and had been the preferred airline for the people of the state taking the popular routes.
Akpabio made these known in Uyo Wednesday night, at the venue of the Christmas Carol programme, tagged 9999 Carol Choristers, which held at the Uyo township stadium, stating that the Government of Akwa Ibom got the revelation on the crash during a monthly prayer session which had been holding within the Government House.
He said the Dana plane was on ground at the Uyo International Airport to convey passengers from Akwa Ibom to Lagos on the day it crashed, stressing that passengers from the state stood their ground not to board it based on reports of its bad condition and hence opted for another standby plane instead.
He said had the people of the state not got the revelation on the ill fate of the plane earlier, the 159 passengers who died when it crashed would mainly have been people of Akwa Ibom.
Akpabio, who said he had shared the testimony with the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, who ministered during the carol session, stressed the need for the people of Akwa Ibom and Nigerians in general to always be prayerful while committing their programmes and personal issues to God.
The governor expressed excitement at the great interest the annual Christmas Carol in Akwa Ibom has been generating from across Nigeria and abroad, contending that the programme since inception two years ago, has been offering blessings to the people and the government of the state.
He, however, lamented the death of the governor of Kaduna State, Patrick Yakowa in a helicopter crash in Bayelsa State, just as he committed the guests at the Christmas Carol night to pray for the repose of his soul and the further protection of members of his family.
Pastor Adeboye, while ministering, praised the governor for putting the 9999 mass choir session together, as he asked for more blessings of God on the government of the state and the people as a whole.
The programme attracted choirs and singers from the South-South region, the United States of America, the Republic of Congo, Ghana and other West African countries.

Tribune