Dana DNA shocker

Posted by admin Aviation, Headlines Monday, August 27th, 2012

By AZOMA CHIKWE, OGE OKONKWO, JOB OSAZUWA, EVONGWA, and JOAN IKEKHIDE

A sister to the late Mr. George Moses, a former Assistant Comptroller of Fire Service who died in the Dana plane crash of June 3, 2012, Mrs Atinuke Okere, has said that his ghost has appeared at the Lagos family, demanding immediate burial.

There is controversy over the DNA result of the victim’s only child, Hannah, whose samples could not match Moses’ own. Mrs. Okere said that the DNA result cannot annul Hannah’s membership of the family. Mrs Okere said that the family is perturbed as the late Moses’ ghost is hovering in their family house at Iyana-Ipaja, Lagos. “My late brother’s spirit is not at rest.

My sister at Iyana-Ipaja told me she always sees the late Moses crying and begging for his body to be buried. We need to take the body to our homeland in Sabogida Ora in Edo State and bury him, so that the spirit can rest,” Mrs Okere said. Lending his voice on the development, the spokesman of the family, Achief Olajide, said they were not moved by the DNA results and claimed that what was paramount to them was collection of the body. “Nobody can tell us that Hannah is not our blood, it is a flimsy excuse. They are only using that as a delay tactics, but it is aggravating our pains.

Whatever comes of the result is a family issue that can never in any way hinder Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) from releasing my uncle’s body to us. “The family is ready to take legal action if eventually they refused to release the body to us. As I speak, we have contacted our legal adviser on the next step to take as we keep our fingers crossed waiting for the next development,” he said. Mrs Okere said that the process of DNA test is not error-free, therefore, the family has decided not to depend on it to determine Hannah’s paternity.

She noted that one does not need a second look at Hannah to comprehend that she is the daughter of her late brother. She called on LASUTH to release the body to the family for burial “so that his spirit can be laid to rest.” Mrs Okere, who is a police officer, told Daily Sun that, “we the family members, don’t have any problem with Hannah. I know her late mother very well.

And who says that the experts who conducted the test cannot make mistake in the process of compiling the results. “She (Hannah) is not a bastard, my late brother did not die childless. You just need to see Hannah and compare her with any photograph of her late father. Without any iota of doubt, you will be convinced that she is indeed a carbon copy of her late father,” she maintained.

However, Mrs Okere expressed sadness over the delay in the process of releasing Moses’ body. She disclosed that the remains did not need any forensic verification before the family can identify and claim it. She accused LASUTH of compounding the family’s pains over the loss of their late brother. In her words, “it is really sad for all members of the family that we have been unable to claim our late brother’s body, close to three months of the plane crash.

“If l may ask, do we need any DNA proof to collect our brother’s body that was neither burnt nor mangled, which we have identified even with his identification card on him. It is funny because it was LASUTH that even identified the body before the family arrived. What else do they want from the family?”, she queried. Meanwhile,Consultant Forensic Pathologist and Chief Examiner,LASUTH,Prof. John Obafunwa, has assured the family that Moses’ body is intact and safe in the mortuary and will be released to the family after due process as laid down by state government, is fulfilled.

Hannah, who is the late Moses next-of –kin and only daughter, was shocked alongside other members of the family going by the results of DNA tests conducted on Dana crash victims. Fresh information from a source at LASUTH on the late Assistant Comptroller of Fire Service, said that if the second DNA test on Hannah fails, that means the victim has no relation from same parents alive, having lost both parents and only sister.

According to the source, the late Mr Moses was travelling from Abuja to Lagos to attend the funeral of her only sister of same parents, who died on June 2,when he boarded and died on the Dana plane that crashed in Iju,a Lagos surburb on June 3,a day after his sister’s death. The source said presently, the number of samples for the second forensic analysis to determine the next-of –kin and pedigree of the victim are many against the ethics of normal DNA processes.

Meanwhile, it was gathered that authorities of LASUTH have collected fresh samples from Hannah, alongside maternal and paternal cousins of the late Mr Moses whose result will be made available in less than two weeks. However, reacting to the true paternity of Hannah, family members of the late George Moses have unanimously spoken with one voice that she is the only child of their late brother, maintaining that the DNA test could not be 100 per cent accurate at all times.

Speaking on the development, Consultant Surgeon, Dr Emmanuel Enabulele, said DNA is not the final say on paternity issues because there are legal and cultural angles in determining paternity depending on which part of the country the man comes from. According to him,”it is not the final say, it is unequivocal, because if it does not correspond, it would give room for argument. “ But once the DNA corresponds, no one can deny the paternity, but that does not say if doesn’t correspond, the man may not be responsible for the child.

“ But if it corresponds, no one can deny the fact that that man must have contributed to the genetic material that made up the life. “ Legally speaking, he is the father depending on what part of the country they are from. I know in certain parts of the country, once the man has made a pronouncement, even if he adopted her from her mother and there is secret arrangement between them, their little secret should be left to them,” Enabulele said.

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