'We want see our papa bodi, weda dead or alive' - Family of helicopter crash victim

One week after di helicopter crash for di Atlantic Ocean for Bonny, Rivers State, south-south Nigeria, families of di remaining victims dey demand for di recovery of dia remains.

Family of Ledum Boris Ndobor wey bin dey on board di helicopter dey ask for im bodi.

Di accident happen on Thursday, October 24, 2024, for Atlantic Ocean near Bonny Finima and involve eight pesins onboard - six passengers and two crew members. Thus far, authorities don confam di recovery of three bodies while search still dey on for di odas.

Ledum Boris Ndobor from Khana local goment area of Rivers na di NUPENG branch chairman of OML 123 oil field wey NNPCL bin dey operate bifor im death.

"We dey devastated wit di news," na so Mrs. Mbetobong Ndobor wife of di victim take describe how dem feel wen dey get di news of di crash.

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"Di way di news come bin dey in a very shocking way. We no know wetin to do. We just weak. Di way dem tell me na, 'madam your husband bin dey onboard di ill-fated helicopter wey crash.' Dat na di information dem give me on dat Thursday."

Mrs. Ndobor say wetin dem want na for evribodi to help dem recover im bodi weda im dey alive or dead.

"We just want to see am come back from work. Im tell us say im dey go work so we want see am back home. Di way we dey now we no know wetin dey happen. We want am back, we just want to see am, dat na our priority for now." She tok.

Light Ledum wey be di son of Ledum Ndobor say im get di information of di incident from im papa employers as dem call dem to inform dem wetin happen around 3pm on dat Thursday afternoon.

"E dey veri shocking and devastating as I tok wit my papa dat same Thursday and im bin dey in good health. Im be dey sound, hale and hearty and no sign dey say dat kain tin go happen."

Ledum Light say afta dat contact from di employers, dem neva get any further information as di information dem get na say dem don recover di bodi of three of di victims and im papa no dey among dem.

E say dem dey tok to di unions wey im papa belong - both PENGASSAN and NUPENG - and dem tell dem say na divers dem deploy to search for di bodi.

"We dey sure say e get oda mechanism wey dem fit put in place to facilitate di search apart from just di divers wey dem deploy so we want dem to put evritin for di search."

E add say di last time e tok wit im papa na wen e send somtin go give im papa and di papa call am to confam say e don get am around 6:30 -7am on dat Thursday wey di incident happen and e tell am say dem dey di muster point, heading to di Naval base to go off to work.

"At dis point, all wetin we dey afta na for di bodis to dey recovered as dat na wetin dey important to us. E dey so dear to us and we only want to see am, we want am back. So we dey call on all relevant authorities to do di best within dia reach to make sue day dem recover di bodi as na dat one go console us for dis time."

'Coordinated search still dey on' - NSIB

Di Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) still dey continue di coordinated recovery operation and investigation into di Sikorsky SK76 helicopter ditching incident wey involve a helicopter wit registration 5N BQG, operated by Eastwind Aviation.

For di update for dia Facebook page, dem say Survey operations don commence and divers enter di water to begin underwater search and recovery efforts.

Di statement say dem send a helicopter to retrieve di fourth recovered body, wey dem transport to a designated facility.

Di NSIB team wey dey supported by di joint Search and Rescue team say dem go continue to sweep di search areas and intensify recovery efforts as dem dey dedicated to di recovery effort and to gada crucial evidence from di scene.

E say despite challenging environmental conditions, di Bureau still dey committed to complete a thorough and respectful recovery operation.

NSIB Director General, Captain Alex Badeh Jr. for di statement say, “Our thoughts remain wit di families of dose affected by dis tragic event. We dey work tirelessly with our partners to bring di recovery operation to completion and to uncover di information wey dey needed to understand wetin transpire.

"We deeply appreciate di cooperation and resilience of our national and international partners as we navigate dis challenging times togeda.”