“It is so sad, I remember dropping you at the airport and you telling me to hurry and come back to Lagos… I am still in so much shock; it is so hard to accept. May you be at rest!” This was the Instagram post of a friend and fellow pilot with Bristow Helicopter Limited, Winston Tamara Braie, when the death of Peter Bello, co-pilot of the ill-fated Bristow helicopter, reached him.
Bello, along with the pilot, Joseph Wyatt, were among the six persons who lost their lives when a helicopter crashed into the Lagos lagoon, around Oworoshoki, a suburban community. Immediately the news broke on Thursday, a good friend of Bello, Peter Osazemen Ozzy, took to his Instagram wall. He recounted, “I could say a lot about you, but I am still coming to terms that you just left without saying goodbye. I was with you on Friday evening, taking pictures on how horrible your drink tasted. You were full of life. You came to visit me on Monday and got me lunch, we laughed and cracked jokes for hours like we always did, talking about how excited you were that you would be shooting my brother’s wedding in October. We both looked forward to it. Then you had to leave and said, ‘see you on Thursday’ as you were going to be off today.
It is Thursday Peter Bello and you are no more. Just like that? It feels like a bad dream I need to wake up from. I was chatting to you before you had to fly that helicopter and I waited patiently for you to land so you could respond as you always did. We mourn today, but God definitely knows best. RIP Dear friend. You were more than a friend. This is too much to bear Peter, unimaginable.” The loss was indeed too hard for Osazemen to bear, as he didn’t wait too long to share other memories he had of Bello. He continued yesterday, “It feels like only yesterday when you flew to Cotonou or ‘Cot-nou’ like you always called it and sent a picture to me. I laughed and asked what sort of pose this was and you responded ‘is your own posing missing?’ You were always smiling and I always asked why.
You respond as usual ‘Peter, is your own missing?’ I would always frown when you called me ‘Petrozzy’ in one deep Igbo accent or how you always complained that Nigerians pronounce your last name as ‘Baello’ instead of ‘Bell-o.’ I will intentionally do that to irk you. I remember when I spoke in pidgin to you to irk you, you would always go mute and then say ‘Peter , what language is that? You no dey try with this your pidgin.’ We would laugh and I will respond ‘I am trying.’ “Peter I can go on and on about how much of a great guy you were, but just know that you left everyone in great pain.
We can’t even phantom what’s happening, but God knows best and we can’t question his ways. I never imagined I would be writing about you like this. You live on forever in our lives through the memories that we have of you. We cherish them so much now. Sleep well in The Lord my brother, my friend. My prayers and thoughts are with your family you left behind. God bless them for bringing you to this world to put smiles on the faces of everyone you came in contact with. God will give them strength to bear this irreparable loss.
I am grateful to God that I was privileged to have met you in the short time you had in this cruel world.” Stella who works in a mall claimed she secretly had a crush for the late Bello. She explained on Instagram, “I cried when I saw this news this morning. He was someone I was having crush on. Each time he comes to the mall I secretly admire him while attending to him. I still can’t believe that you are gone and never will I see you again. I wish God can just breathe life into you right now. I wish this was just a dream. I saw you last week, you were so full of life and you went to see a movie at the cinemas and you even came to my office to snap passport. If only I knew that would be my last time of seeing you I wouldn’t have let you go…This world is just a market place.”
The deceased, Bello, had departed an oil rig in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, with the hope of landing in Lagos around 3:35am as the flight schedule revealed. But, sadly,the aircraft ended in the lagoon about five minutes before touchdown. The body of the deceased was recovered on Thursday, alongside that of Wyatt, after several hours of search. In a statement released on Thursday, Duncan Moore, Bristow’s regional director in Africa, said Bello joined the company’s flight school in 2014. The statement added that Wyatt, a US citizen, joined Bristow in 2006 and has spent his entire career out of Africa, flying with the company. Bristow expressed sadness over the development, saying that it has established a dedicated hotline for family members of those on board.
“We are saddened by this tragic accident. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families, friends and loved ones of all those on board. Bristow has mobilised the full resources of its response team and is working closely with authorities on the investigation. “Medical treatment is being provided to those who are injured and trained coordinators have been assigned to the families of the crew members and passengers to support them with their every need and ensure that they receive the most current information and assistance,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, effort to reach the six occupants who were rescued has been unsuccessful. At about 10.00am to 2pm yesterday at the Saint Nicholas Hospital, Lagos Island, the hospital to which the patients had been moved, no friends or family members were sighted. When such mishap occurs, it is common for well-wishers and family members to swarm the hospital. But it was not the case yesterday. A receptionist simply told our correspondent when asked to comment on their status: “you can speak to our boss over there (pointing to a lady who appears to be in her 30s).” She was friendly, but quite resolute, insisting there was no way they could allow him speak with the patients. She continued, “I would let you speak with the matron once she comes backs, she is not around.”
After like an hour wait, the chief matron, Olushola Fashola, arrived. She explained that the patients were doing fine, but they cannot be allowed to speak with the media. She assured that she would get to the chief medical director, Oladipo Bamgboye, to give the media update, a move that later didn’t happen. We didn’t get to see the director and she didn’t come back to give a feedback. A source later informed our correspondent that most of the survivors are not based in Lagos, which explained why their family members were not at the hospital.
“The patients are not much as to attract a crowd. If the casualties figure had been much higher with a teeming number of family members desperate to see their injured relatives, the hospital would have been forced to speak out,” the middle-aged man who refused to disclose his identity said. But a security officer at the hospital said the patients were admitted in the hospital’s intensive care unit, adding that 4.00pm was the time family members and loved ones were expected to visit. New Telegraph
