Family of late 29-year-old pilot breaks silence, he was our breadwinner

Mr Asaniyi Rufus, father of the late 29-year-old pilot, Asaniyi Taiwo, who flew the crashed military plane, has said that only God can console him and members of his family over the demise of his son.

Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria at his Ibadan residence on Monday, the 62-year-old father of the late pilot, who betrayed emotion repeatedly, lamented the death of his son.

“I struggled to ensure that my children have the best. I did farming for 32 years to support my teaching job, just to ensure that my children have the best of education.

“Since my retirement in 2019, Taiwo has been the one sustaining my family. All the responsibilities of the family had been on his shoulder, being the first male child.

“He was a blessing to us and our extended family. I had thought that the chain of hardship had been broken, but God took him away,” the bereaved father said.

Asaniyi appealed to the Federal Government to help find jobs for his late son’s siblings so that he (father) would not die thinking of him.

“I want to appeal to government to please help me find jobs for them because God has taken my beloved Taiwo away,” he said, sobbing uncontrollably.

The deceased’s mother, Mrs Rachael Asaniyi, 59, who could barely speak, also appealed for government’s assistance.

Also speaking, the eldest child of the family, Mrs Oluwatoyin Olaoye, who spoke highly of her late brother, said the family had taken solace in the fact that he lived a fulfilled life.

“Just a day to the incident, he called me that I should get the list of things sent by our in-laws for his marriage and that I should put costs on them and get back to him.

“He also told me that the military had asked him to proceed on a course in the United Kingdom with effect from June 12.

“My brother was exceptionally brilliant; he was the shining light of both our nuclear and extended family, but God knows best,” she said.