‘He bought another person’s ticket’ — DJ Obi recounts father’s death in 2012 Dana Air crash

Obinna Levi Ajuonuma, the Nigerian disc jockey better known as DJ Obi, has revealed that his father was not meant to be on the flight that led to his death.

Obi’s father, Levi Chibuike Ajuonuma who was a renowned broadcaster, died in the Dana Air Flight 992 crash which occurred on June 3, 2012, at Iju-Ishaga in Lagos state.

 

In an interview on Afropolitan, the disc jockey revealed that his father got on the flight at the last minute after deciding to personally oversee a work assignment.

 

He disclosed that because it was a last-minute decision, his father bought someone else’s ticket and ended up in an economy seat instead of his usual business class.

 

He added that his father’s name did not initially appear on the flight manifest because the ticket was not booked under his name.

 

“My dad wasn’t supposed to be on that flight but because of the type of person he is, he was trying to be diligent with work and didn’t trust the people he left the work with which made him decide to come to Lagos to oversee it,” he said.

 

“His boss was Diezani Alison-Madueke and he was trying to make sure everything was perfect because she had a speaking event in Eko hotel.

 

 

“After everything happened she was upset because if she knew he was making those plans, she would have told him to be on the private jet with her to Lagos.

 

“Normally, if he wanted to go on a commercial flight, he would have gotten a business class ticket.

 

“When the crash happened, they couldn’t find his name because he had gotten someone else’s ticket, it was that last minute. If he is actually supposed to be on the flight, he would have gotten a business class ticket but he took someone else’s economy seat.

 

“His name didn’t come up in the manifesto as well, it was at the bottom because he wasn’t in the business class manifesto.”

 

 

Obi further described his father’s death as the “most difficult period of my life”, adding that he struggled to come to terms with the loss because his father was his “superman”.

 

“That period was the most difficult time of my life. I couldn’t comprehend it, He was such a superman in my life so what do you mean he isn’t coming anymore,” he added.