Rita Odafe
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has announced the identities of six employees who tragically passed away in a helicopter accident on Thursday.
The electronic manifest of the flight revealed the names of the deceased NNPC team members: “Tamunoemi Suku, Alu Lawrence, Etim Emmanuel, Kenneth Chikwem, Frank Oriamre, and Borris Ndorbo.”
The pilot, Captain Yakubu Dukas, was also among those who perished, with one additional passenger still unidentified.
According to SaharaReporters, the helicopter, operated by East Winds Aviation, was heading to the FPSO-NUIMS ANTAN facility when it went down in the Atlantic Ocean.
PUNCH has reported that the Nigerian Air Management Agency (NAMA) has enlisted the assistance of neighboring countries like Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea in the search for the missing helicopter and four other passengers.
At the time of the accident, there were eight individuals on board, and while three bodies were recovered from the Atlantic, two more were found the following day, bringing the total to five recovered bodies.
Search efforts are ongoing, though attempts to locate the aircraft and the remaining victims have not been successful.
NAMA’s Managing Director, Umar Farouq, mentioned that they are actively working to locate both the helicopter and the missing passengers.
“Through concerted efforts, we are on top of the matter, with other agencies the search operation is on and Insha Allah we shall be successful,” he commented.
When inquired about seeking help from neighboring countries like Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, the NAMA director confirmed that all relevant Flight Information Regions have been engaged for support.
