Dana air crash: Victims families to undergo rigorous process for compensation

A Naval Officer, Joe Aikhomu, and others relation of the victims of DANA Air crashed waiting for clarification at General Hospital Mortuary in Ikeja Lagos

 Although the Federal Government and the insurers that insured the ill-fated Dana Airline that crashed recently in Lagos have  assured family members of the victims that compensation will not be delayed, unfolding events  tend  to point otherwise.
Despite the promise that the compensation  about 30,000 dollars will begin to get to the beneficiaries within  30 days, the rigorous process of getting  Letters  of Administration before compensation can be paid is  a very big hurdle to cross.
The  bureaucracy of the courts is a major impediment which could pose as a clog in the wheel of progress for the beneficiaries. Besides,  the fee to be paid to lawyers for getting a Letter of Administration is about 15 per cent of each compensation money.
The  insurance company handling Dana Airline, Lloyds Underwriters, London,  had said families of each of the victims of the ill-fated airplane, a McDonnell Douglas 83 (MD-83), will be paid $100,000 or N15.58 million, at the exchange rate of N155.84 to the US dollar. According to the company, the initial sum of $30,000 would be paid within 30 days while the balance of $70,000 would follow thereafter.
Investigations by Sunday Vanguard reveal that a beneficiary will not be given any compensation without producing a Letter of Administration from a High Court in Nigeria certifying the bearer as the bonafide next of kin  of the deceased.
However, getting a Letter of Administration is not an easy feat as the processes involved could drag on for long.
To get a Letter of Administration from any High Court in the country, a beneficiary will proceed to the court with the death certificate of the deceased. Next, a form for Letter of Administration will be given to the beneficiary to be filled. The beneficiary is then required to place an advertorial in any national newspaper to declare that the deceased is actually dead