The dead silence that enveloped the ground could be touched. It was almost caking. Despite the visible signs of a recent weeding, the Arcade and Garden still looked unkempt. While a section of the arcade’s floor, from the entrance towards the centre was already sinking, the floor of the backside had speeded up its cracking.

Sadly too, majority of the nametags attached to the gravestones had fallen off.

The silence that pervaded the Arcade and Garden, jointly constructed by the Federal and Ogun State governments, was unimaginable, considering what has become government’s jamboree to celebrate such remarkable events, 20 years memorial anniversary for that matter: Like the graveyard it was, the unusual silence was disappointing based on expectations that the 20th memorial anniversary would be marked with fanfare to honour the dead.

The bushes at both sides of the front gate of the entrance had grown wildly. And safe for mini farms around the fence, there wouldn’t have been any access to the arcade. The surrounding bushes, which had practically turned into a jungle too, raise their disorderly climbers, begging for urgent attention in stark derogatory pose to the victims’ memory.

To say the arcade had waned very fast was to put it mildly, because the level of neglect in the facility was boldly etched on the entire edifice. The once appealing gigantic billboard positioned at the arcade’s entrance had fallen off and covered with weeds.

Even the once radiant arcade, built to serve the dual purposes of a resting place for the souls of the victims and also a tourist centre of sorts, had lost its appeal in diminished architectural splendor.

The paints were faded, even faster than imagined, as the walls were cracking too, burying the fact that the place was repainted 11 years ago by the defunct First Nation Airline, which bought over the defunct Bellview Airlines.

Even, getting to the site was another arduous task as the road constructed shortly after the crash had deteriorated. Erosion has washed away the tarred portions of the road, leaving it with wide ditches. With the raining season, the condition of the road has worsened.

It will not be overstatement to say the victims are crying from the grave owing to neglect and total abandonment by government.

Sadly, one major challenge faced during the visit was getting access to the town. The experience was a nightmare, as the road had become near impassable for motorists, even commercial motorcycle riders popularly called Okada are struggling to meander through the snake-like road.

It was gathered that the road, constructed by the state government after the incident lasted for only three months before its eventual collapse. The rainy season had made the matter worse, as some vehicles were seen stuck on the road.

From the Sango end through Ijoko/Ogba-Iyo, the road is devastating. But for the Okada riders who charge exorbitantly, it would have been an impossible task for anybody to get there.

It was exactly 20 years on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, that the place turned to the scene of national mourning, as Nigerians thronged to Lisa Town, Ifo Council of Ogun State, to see things for themselves.

An ill-fated Boeing 737-200 aircraft, Flight 210, operated by the defunct Bellview Airlines, crashed, killing all the 117 passengers on board.

Smoke spewed out from the crater for several days and investigators stated that the crash was not survivable. The aircraft impacted at a nearly vertical angle at approximately 400 knots (740 km/h; 460 mph), causing most of the aircraft’s components to be severely damaged and unidentifiable.

Investigators reportedly found human remains with their sizes described as “nothing bigger than toes and fingers.”
The airplane, a scheduled passenger flight from Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, en route Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, crashed shortly after takeoff. The flight departed Lagos at 20:35 with 111 passengers and six crew members on board.

The tragic incident threw the entire country and beyond into a state of mourning, considering the fatality, coupled with some big names when the passengers manifest was made public.

The investigation of the crash was hampered by the lack of physical evidence on the crash site, which was caused by the aircraft’s high speed during impact and by looting afterward. The flight recorders were not recovered, and forensic analysis of the pilots could not be conducted. As a result, the investigation was not able to conclude the cause of the crash.

The aircraft (named Resilience) was a 24-year-old Boeing 737-2L9 with two Pratt & Whitney JT8D-17 engines. It was manufactured in 1981 with a manufacturer serial number of 22734 and was first delivered to Maersk Air before being acquired by Bellview Airlines in 2003 after being leased by multiple airlines. It was registered under the Nigerian aircraft registration of 5N-BFN. The aircraft had logged more than 55,000 flight hours at the time of the crash.

Inspections were carried out at the facility of Royal Air Maroc in Morocco between December 2004 and February 2005.

The last check was performed on the aircraft by Bellview Airlines Engineers at Lagos in October 2005. Review of the engine records showed that the last overhaul of the No. 1 engine was in August 2004, while the No. 2 engine was overhauled in May 2005.

The aircraft was carrying 111 passengers and six crew members, most of who were thought to be Nigerians. There were also at least 10 Ghanaians; two Malian-French; two British people; two Gambians; and one passenger from Germany and South Africa. United States officials also confirmed the presence of a US army officer, Major Joseph Haydon, on the flight. There was also a Sierra Leone citizen aboard.

The flight was popular among Nigerians and expatriates shuttling between the two cities.

The victims of the twin-engine Boeing 737-200 registered in Nigeria as 5N-BFN, with manufacturers serial number 22734, which was built in 1981 for Maersk Air, include, a general from Mali and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), deputy executive secretary, Cheick Oumar Diarra; Chairman of Nigeria Railway Corporation and a close aide to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Waziri Mohammed, and Nigerian Postmaster General, Abubakar Musa Argungu. Usman Umar, a member of local council who was also the chairman of Nigeria’s Board of Directors of the National Programme on Immunisation, was also on board the flight.

Director of Research and Documentation, Nigerian Press Council, Mr. Omang Ojang; ECOWAS Director of Finance in Nigeria (Ghanaian), Mr. Emmanuel Quaye; former Managing Director of defunct Peoples Bank, Mrs. Maria Sokenu and traditional ruler of Daddare, Obi Local Council of Nasarawa State, who doubles as Chairman, Board of Directors of the National Programme on Immunisation, Usman Umar, among others.

The cockpit crew consisted of Captain Imasuen Lambert, First Officer Eshun Ernest and Flight Engineer Steve Sani. Captain Lambert joined Bellview Airlines in October 2004. He had logged 13,429 hours of flight experience, including 1,053 hours on the Boeing 737. Lambert had worked for Imani Aviation, Okada Air, Gas Air and Kabo Air. He was out of active flying for 12 years, between 1992 and 2004, after suffering injuries as a victim of an attempted robbery.

First Officer Eshun Ernest was a Ghanaian national whose wife Sarah was also on board.He was less experienced than Captain Lambert, having a total of 762 flight hours, with 451 of them on the Boeing 737.

Flight 210 was the final leg of a one-day round trip from Abuja to Abidjan with intermediate stops in Lagos and Accra. The flight was uneventful until the fifth leg. While in Accra, the crews had a discussion on the low pressure reading of the brake accumulator system. The reading, approximately 4,500 kPa (650 psi), was significantly lower than its normal value of 6,900 kPa (1,000 psi). The flight was continued and the reading was logged by crews.

There was actually a ray of hope when initial reports indicated that at least half of those on board survived the crash, but when it was later discovered that there were no survivors, the entire country went into period of mourning.

One main occurrence that actually surprised many after locating the crash site in Lisa, a far flung community in Ogun State, was the alleged disappearance of the flight data recorders.

As days turned to weeks, weeks turn to months; searchers were allegedly not able to find these objects.

This development, based on reports, actually hampered investigations and the official report was not released until February 2013, seven years after the incident.

After the crash, in response to the national outcry of pain and anguish, a Memorial Arcade and Garden and other infrastructure were put in place to mourn the departed and as a memorial for the victims.

Frankly, the tragic incident brought Lisa, a community of about 10.5 kilometres distance from the boisterous city of Sango into limelight. The disaster led to the gradual uplift of the communities’ infrastructure, especially the road, and condition of the town, as the community turned to Mecca of sort for victims’ families and fun seekers.

However, regardless of both the Federal and Ogun State government’s efforts, coupled with the yearly fanfare to mark the day, the community has practically been abandoned.

Now, exactly 20 years after, the facilities are in ruins out of neglect. The Guardian was in shock during a visit to the town on Wednesday, as there was no sign of any visit from the victims’ families, the Federal and state governments, officials of the defunct airline and the community people as well.

A regular caller, Mrs. Victoria Olumekun, whose husband, Mr. Johnson Olumekun, a former Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), who also died in the crash, while on official assignment, was conspicuously absent on Wednesday. Some residents attributed the canny neglect to the bad state of the road, which they said discourage regular visitors to the arcade.

The memorial arcade’s guard, Elder Ikechuckwu told The Guardian that it’s over a year he received his salary, since the airline that also took over from First Nation is also defunct. He noted that the clearing of the bushes is always done by the youths, adding that no victims’ families had visited in recent time due to the dilapidated state of the road.

Contrary to earlier reports from communities around the area to commemorate the 20th anniversary, unusual silence pervaded the entire town.

Reports have it that the likes of Ifesowapo Consultative Forum, a coalition of 32 communities surrounding Lisa, announced the plans during a strategic meeting of representatives, outlining activities designed to honour the victims and reflect on the lessons of the disaster.

According to the Forum’s Chairman, Dr Fola Abati, the anniversary will feature inter-religious prayers, an aviation safety lecture, and welfare outreach for families of the deceased. He said government officials, aviation experts, and members of the international community are expected to attend, with the event also being live-streamed to allow wider participation.

“The 20th Memorial Anniversary is not merely about looking back with sorrow,” Dr Abati said. “It is about using history to inspire progress. We owe it to the victims, their families, and to ourselves to ensure that Lisa is not remembered only for tragedy, but for resilience and renewal.”

But on Wednesday, there was nobody in sight for over 30 minutes The Guardian spent at the premises of the arcade, except the guard who later showed up.

Though the Federal and state governments failed to show up, there were expectations that officials from the Ifo local council should have visited the community, at least to make the presence of government felt.

Going down the memory lane, the Amona of Lisa, Chief Adeyinka Adefunmiloye, told The Guardian that the promise made by the Federal Government to make the place a tourist centre of international repute never came to fruition, noting that the place has completely been abandoned.

Adefunmiloye disclosed that the first two years after the construction of the arcade, over 300 tourists across the country, including school children visited the place.

He added that families of the victims also visit often until the road, which began to collapse few months after it was constructed deteriorated and scared visitors away.

He said: “This place has been abandoned, even the two guards in charge of the arcade have for a very long time ago stopped receiving salaries from government, but unfortunately one of them is dead. It is the monarch that has been paying the salary, likewise the regular weeding of the place from becoming a jungle.

“We have made several efforts as a community to draw the attention of government to the state of neglect. Few years ago, I was with the former Director General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Mrs. Sally Mbanefo to discuss the state of this arcade. She made efforts, which led to the visit of a Director of Tourism from Abuja a week after, who took pictures and the necessary information with a promise to feed her boss what she got here, but since then, nothing was heard.

“Coming to Ogun State, we started when the Gateway Tourism Development Commission was in operation. When the former Governor, Ibikunle Amosun came on board and established the ministry of culture and tourism, several letters were written. When the first commissioner in the ministry got our letter, he visited with officials of the ministry and saw the state of the arcade and the neglect, with a promise to do something. While being hopeful of the result, he was moved to another ministry.”

Speaking with The Guardian, the convener of The Alternative, Otunba Segun Showunmi, called on governments at all levels to rehabilitate the deplorable road leading to Lisa Village, and clear the bush that has overtaken the crash memorial site.

Speaking against the backdrop of developments marking 20 years since the tragic incident, he lamented the poor condition of the access road and the neglect of the crash site, where 117 passengers lost their lives, now covered in weeds and largely forgotten.

“It is unfortunate that 20 years after one of the darkest moments in our aviation history, Lisa Village, which should be a national monument of remembrance, has been left in disrepair. The road leading to the site is almost impassable, and the graves of our compatriots are being swallowed by bushes,” Showunmi decried.

He called on the Federal Ministry of Works and the Ogun State government to collaborate in fixing the Lisa Road and restoring the memorial site to a dignified state worthy of national respect.

“We cannot continue to treat sites of national tragedy with such disregard. The victims of the Bellview crash deserve honour, not abandonment.

“The government must take responsibility by clearing the area, paving the road, and ensuring the place is preserved as a heritage site for reflection and learning,” he added.

Showunmi further urged the government to partner with aviation stakeholders, local communities, and civil society to develop Lisa into a proper memorial and research site that reflects Nigeria’s commitment to safety, remembrance, and compassion.

“Let Lisa not remain a symbol of neglect, but a place that reminds us of the value of human life and the need for continuous improvement in our systems,” he added.

The Onilisa of Lisaland, Oba Najeem Oladele Odugbemi, who revealed that since former President Olusegun Obasanjo left office in 2007, the place has been experiencing neglect, said throughout the tenure of former Governor Ibikunle Amosun, several efforts were made through the ministry of tourism but nothing happened.

The monarch is appealing to the Federal and the state governments to urgently consider the rehabilitation of the site of the arcade. “We are appealing to both the Federal and State Governments to restore this important site. It is not only the resting place of 117 souls with Nigerians and foreign nationals alike; it is also a symbol of collective memory. We have made several representations in the past.

Oba Odugbemi regretted that the memorial arcade, once frequented by bereaved families and visitors, now stands largely abandoned. He described the 10.5-kilometre road linking Ogba-Iyo in Ijoko through Oyero to the crash site as impassable, noting that the original tarring lasted less than a year before being washed away by seasonal flooding.

He recalled the memorial’s inauguration by former President Obasanjo and then-Governor Gbenga Daniel, when the site drew national attention and international sympathy. Today, he said, the contrast is stark.

The arcade, which houses the graves of all 117 victims, features individual tombstones bearing their names. Many of these are now in poor condition, with structural damage and erosion threatening their integrity.

“I have been using my personal resources to make the place appealing but the attitude of the government has not been encouraging me. When Otunba Gbenga Daniel was in office, the state acquired more lands around the arcade to build hospitality centres around the site, but the lands are lying fallow and it has become jungle because of the neglect…”

He appealed to Governor Dapo Abiodun to address the deplorable state of the road from Ijoko to Lisa, noting that any time it rains; it’s always difficult to pass through a river along the route.