AS the search for the missing Beechchraft plane continues, the State Security Service (SSS) has arrested and quizzed the Commissioner in charge of Accident and Investigation Bureau (AIB), Mr. Samson Oduselu.
But some stakeholders have protested to the Presidency that the SSS acted in error.
Investigations by our correspondent showed that Oduselu had been under interrogation in the last five days over the disappearance of the Wings Aviation Aircraft.
As at Friday, there was pressure on the SSS to release Oduselu but it could not be ascertained whether he had been set free or not.
A highly-placed source in the security agency simply said: �Oduselu has been in and out of SSS custody.�
With the interrogation of the AIB commissioner, both the SSS and the Presidential Committee on the missing plane had so far quizzed 12 aviation chiefs and a few others.
Others who had been grilled are the Minister of State for Transportation (Air), Mr. Felix Hyatt; MD of Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Capt. Ado Sanusi; the Director-General of NCAA, Mr. Harold Demuren; the DG of the National Emergency Management Agency, AVM M.M. Audu-Bida; the DG of NIMET; MD of FAAN; and the MD CEO of Wings Aviation.
Others are the Management of Bebi Airstrip, Obudu; the Nigeria Police; and the Chief of Staff to the Governor of Cross River State.
The probe panel was also said to have interacted with Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State .,
But the interrogation of Oduselu had created crisis between the SSS and some aviation stakeholders because it was discovered that he had no direct link with the search and rescue operation for the missing plane.
A source said: �These stakeholders are saying that the SSS should not have invited Oduselu because the business of AIB begins when the search and rescue for any plane has been completed.
�Once there is a criminal investigation going on in the aviation sector, the AIB cannot come in because it is an autonomous body and its duty is technical.
“Going by Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, an aircraft is said to be missing when the official search has been terminated and the wreckage has not been located.
“You can only invite AIB to look into the cause of any crash or missing plane after all the relevant agencies have concluded their search. So, Oduselu has no business with the SSS.”
Meanwhile, the Presidential Investigating Committee has extended its sitting.
The National Security Adviser, Maj-Gen. A.S. Mukhtar, had in a letter on April 9, 2008 to members of the committee said: “The committee is expected to submit six copies of its report within three weeks after its sitting.”
A source said: “Our findings so far are daunting and we need more time to conclude investigations.”
It was learnt that the committee is bidding its time on Clause (e) of its terms of reference.
The clause reads: “To examine who and what was responsible for the misinformation with respect to the missing aircraft and recommend appropriate sanctions.”
A source said: “Left to the panel, all the Directors-General/Managing Directors of relevant aviation agencies should be sacked.
“But these aviation chiefs are also lobbying the powers that be in The Presidency to save their jobs.
“Some of them are accusing a member of the panel, Capt. Sheu Iyal (the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Aviation) as behind alleged plot to ease them out of office. They said Iyal is sitting in judgement because he is an entrenched interest in the aviation sector.”
But a source in The Presidency said: “These aviation chiefs have been trying to blackmail Iyal and other members of the committee but they will fail,”