Associated Airlines May Be Flying Without Insurance

Airline shuts offices
By Nnamdi Duru, Chinedu Eze and Dele Ogbodo
Aircraft in the fleet of Associated Airlines may have been
flying without insurance cover since the beginning of this
year as its alleged insurer, Nigeria Reinsurance Plc (Nigeria-
Re), has denied having any insurance contract with the
airline.
Also, the second insurer named by the airline, Sema
Insurance, is neither registered by the National Insurance
Commission (NAICOM) nor an insurance broking firm
registered by the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance
Brokers (NCRIB),THISDAY gathered
.
This revelation is coming on the heels of the crash of one of
the airline's aircraft conveying the corpse of former
Governor of Ondo State, Chief Olusegun Agagu, and some
of his family members, including government officials to
Akure on Thursday. The crash which occurred within the
vicinity of the Murtala Mohammed Airport Lagos minutes
after take-off, claimed 13 lives, with two of the six survivors
still in critical condition.
The implication of the latest revelation is that the expected
insurance claims by surviving victims of the crash and
relatives of the deceased victims may be in jeorpady.
The Chief Operating Officer of Associated Airlines, Taiwo
Raji, had said the aircraft was insured by Sema Insurance in
partnership with Nigeria-Re. At another time, the company
was said to have been insured by Africa Reinsurance
Corporation (Africa-Re) and Sema Insurance.
However, Nigeria-Re has denied the existence of any
insurance contract with the airline, saying such claims were
not only false but made by "people who do not understand
the way the insurance industry is organised."
The Managing Director of Nigeria-Re, Mrs. Isioma Chukwu,
told THISDAY that her organisation was never at any time
the official insurer of Associated Airlines.
She explained that her organisation, being a reinsurance
company, do not transact any business with the insureds or
policyholders, adding that reinsurance companies insures
risks taken by primary insurance companies and as such
could not have had any insurance transaction with the
airline.
Just like the Nigeria-Re, Africa-Re as a secondary insurer
does not transact insurance businesses with individuals,
corporate bodies or any other type of client. It insures risks
of primary insurers only.
THISDAY investigations also confirmed that there was no
insurance company named Sema Insurance on the list of
companies registered by the National Insurance Commission
(NAICOM).
Enquiries from the umbrella body for insurance broking firms
in the country, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance
Brokers (NCRIB), confirmed that Sema Insurance was not on
their list.
The Head of Corporate Communications at the council, Mr.
Tope Adaramola said there was no such name in the
register of the brokers' body.
"There is no Sema on our list of registered insurance
brokers in the country," he said.
An online search for the insurance company showed that it
is located at 355 Alhambra Circle Suite 1201,Coral Gables,
Florida, USA.
Investigations have also shown that the airline may have
been flying without any valid insurance protection since the
beginning of this year.
A top insurance broker, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, said Custodian and Allied Insurance Plc, was the
insurer of the airline but had to stop at the beginning of this
year because the airline defaulted in the payment of
premium for the cover.
Officials of the airline could however not be reached to
comment on the matter, as their offices were shut
yesterday. However, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority
(NCAA) as a regulatory body, is responsible for all enquiries
about aviation accident and aircraft.
The authority may have failed in its duty to ensure adequate
insurance protection for air travellers as it was not able to
confirm that the insurance certificates which the airline
presented were genuine.
When contacted to react to the findings by THISDAY,
General Manager, Public Affairs of NCAA, Fan Ndubuoke,
said the Director General, Mr. Fola Akinkuotu, was not
disposed to commenting on the matter because he had just
returned to the country and was also engaged in a series of
meetings so as to be briefed on the tragic accident.
Akinkuotu attended the recent International Civil Aviation
Organisation Council Meeting in Montreal, Canada.
Meanwhile, the airlines' office at 'Terminal B' wing of the
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, was shut yesterday.
No staff was on ground to attend to visitors who besieged
the office for enquiries when THISDAY visited.
Federal Airport Authority (FAAN), Station Manager, Mrs.
Henrietta Yakubu, said there was no directive from
government that the office should be shut.
Mr. Joe Obi, the Special Adviser to the Aviation Minister,
Ms. Stella Oduah, also corroborated Yakubu's claim that
there was no directive from the ministry that the airline
should be shut.
He said: "Associated Airlines is a small operator that does
not even fly regularly, the closure of their office, perhaps is
to show solidarity with the families of those who died in the
crash."
He said it would be callous for an operator to open shop in
the midst of the loss they suffered in the crash.
At the various booking desks of other commercial airlines, it
was business as usual, as the crash did not have any impact
on flight schedules and passengers who were eager to check
in for their flight.
Asked to comment on the impact of the crash, Captain Alex
Sabundu, of Arik airlines, said, Thursday's air crash was a
sad and terrible one, but it won't stop us from flying.
"I have always looked at it this way that when it is
anybody's turn to die, the person will die, no matter what
happens. People in Nigeria keep throwing blames when an
aircraft crashes, everyone is blaming one another, it is not
necessarily so.
"There are those on board who survived, despite the crash,"
Sabundu said, adding that even though there was a crash
that day, he still flew from Lagos, an hour later.
According to him, "Nigeria is not the only place where air
accident occurs, it happens everywhere in the world,"
adding that "the aviation sector is not as bad as people are
made to believe."
Arguing that the age of the aircraft had nothing to do with
crash, he said "If you go abroad there are planes that are
50 years old, yet they are still flying, as far as they are
properly maintained."
A passenger, Mr. Jubril Suleiman who was due to board an
Arik flight, said: "I still prefer traveling by air, as it is the
safest. "What happened Thursday is destiny, once it is
anybody's time, no one can stop it."
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