THE Lagos State Government has promised to set in motion measures that will enable relatives of victims of the Dana Air disaster receive the balance of $70,000 they are entitled to as compensation.

Such measures include fast tracking the issuance of Letters of Administration at the Probate Registry as well as any application for Guardianship Order, which only needs to be accompanied with an Affidavit of Urgency to be so treated.

Also, the government has waived the 10 per cent statutory fees payable on Letters of Administration for the families of the victims.

The Lagos State Government’s gesture was in response to an earlier request by the Director General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren in a letter to the Chief Judge of Lagos State in which he solicited her Lordships assistance towards facilitating the payment of entitlements to victims’ families.

The Chief Judge’s letter signed on behalf of the Chief Registrar by an Assistant Chief Registrar, (Probate Registry) Abioye Emmanuel also included that the NCAA shall forward a list of victim families who are the applicants to the Probate Registry and inform representatives of the families to complete necessary forms at the registry.

The letter also stipulates that though waiver of some requirements for processing Letters of Administration is approved for the purpose of paying compensation to victim families, additional assets or properties of the victims would however be subject to regular requirements  “in which regard only one surety who must be a registered land owner in Lagos State is necessary as opposed to two”, while administrative fee for processing is put at a flat rate of N6,000.00.”

However, NCAA’s request that the same conditions that qualify victims for the payment of $30,000.00 should be adequate for the payment of the outstanding balance of $70,000.00 could not be considered by the government as the said conditions were not made available to the judiciary.

“Finally, the Honourable Chief Judge, once again conveys her Lordship’s heartfelt condolences”, the letter to Demuren ended.

In a related development, the fact that they are unlimited liabilities and therefore not restricted by any local or international regulations and statutes over claims they may make has been identified as possible reason why no compensation has yet been paid to those other victims of the air crash, such as those whose properties were damaged on the ground.

Such claims would be subject to scrutiny, verification, negotiations and even litigation before they could be settled.

A source close to NCAA said the airline’s insurers would get around to addressing the compensation issues involving non-flying victims with time.

“The procedure involved is different since the passengers who died in the crash were subject to terms of agreement that are international on purchase of the Dana Air ticket, which is not the same with the other victims on the ground.”

THE Lagos State Government has promised to set in motion measures that will enable relatives of victims of the Dana Air disaster receive the balance of $70,000 they are entitled to as compensation.

Such measures include fast tracking the issuance of Letters of Administration at the Probate Registry as well as any application for Guardianship Order, which only needs to be accompanied with an Affidavit of Urgency to be so treated.

Also, the government has waived the 10 per cent statutory fees payable on Letters of Administration for the families of the victims.

The Lagos State Government’s gesture was in response to an earlier request by the Director General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren in a letter to the Chief Judge of Lagos State in which he solicited her Lordships assistance towards facilitating the payment of entitlements to victims’ families.

The Chief Judge’s letter signed on behalf of the Chief Registrar by an Assistant Chief Registrar, (Probate Registry) Abioye Emmanuel also included that the NCAA shall forward a list of victim families who are the applicants to the Probate Registry and inform representatives of the families to complete necessary forms at the registry.

The letter also stipulates that though waiver of some requirements for processing Letters of Administration is approved for the purpose of paying compensation to victim families, additional assets or properties of the victims would however be subject to regular requirements  “in which regard only one surety who must be a registered land owner in Lagos State is necessary as opposed to two”, while administrative fee for processing is put at a flat rate of N6,000.00.”

However, NCAA’s request that the same conditions that qualify victims for the payment of $30,000.00 should be adequate for the payment of the outstanding balance of $70,000.00 could not be considered by the government as the said conditions were not made available to the judiciary.

“Finally, the Honourable Chief Judge, once again conveys her Lordship’s heartfelt condolences”, the letter to Demuren ended.

In a related development, the fact that they are unlimited liabilities and therefore not restricted by any local or international regulations and statutes over claims they may make has been identified as possible reason why no compensation has yet been paid to those other victims of the air crash, such as those whose properties were damaged on the ground.

Such claims would be subject to scrutiny, verification, negotiations and even litigation before they could be settled.

A source close to NCAA said the airline’s insurers would get around to addressing the compensation issues involving non-flying victims with time.

“The procedure involved is different since the passengers who died in the crash were subject to terms of agreement that are international on purchase of the Dana Air ticket, which is not the same with the other victims on the ground.”