Pius Adesanmi, Nigeria-born Canadian professor, is one of the victims of the ill-fated Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed on its way to Nairobi, Kenya, on Sunday morning, according to multiple reports.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 carrying 149 passengers and eight crew members, lost contact with air traffic controllers six minutes after taking off.
It crashed near Bishoftu, southeast of the Ethiopian capital, Ethiopian Airlines said in a statement.
The airlines said 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, eight Americans and seven British nationals were among the passengers.
Adesanmi flew on a Canadian passport. He posed with the passport in the last picture he posted on Facebook and wrote: “If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me – Psalm 139:9-10″
Pius Adesanmi was a celebrated author who despite residing abroad in Canada kept in touch with his Nigerian audience fervently back home.
Friends and well-wishers have since taken to social media to mourn the late scholar.
The world has lost a fine intellectual, one of a rare breed of thinkers and good governance advocate. It’s confirmed, people, we lost Professor Pius Adesanmi in that Ethiopian Airlines crash. 💔 pic.twitter.com/J68sgftB1b
— Gimba Kakanda (@gimbakakanda) March 10, 2019
https://twitter.com/AriyoAristotle/status/1104812711752404999
https://twitter.com/elnathan_john/status/1104800533808861185
Another Nigerian, Ambassador Abiodun Bashua, was also on board the flight. Ambassador Abiodun Bashua of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was flying with a UN passport.
The late Bashua was former UN and AU Deputy Joint Special Representative in Darfur, Sudan.
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