CO PILOT OF CRASHED BRISTOW HELICOPTER BURIED IN CALABAR

The family of the late co-pilot on Thursday held a funeral mass for the deceased in Calabar without the corpse.
As early as 10am, family members and friends had gathered at the Margaret Ekpo International Airport in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, to receive the corpse but they had to leave around 3.pm for St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in the Ikot Ansa axis of the metropolis, when it became obvious that the corpse would not arrive from Lagos.
No reason was given for the delay in bringing the corpse.
At the church funeral service, which commenced at about 3.30pm, tributes poured in for the late Capt. Bello
Delivering his homily at the funeral mass, Rev. Fr. Patrick Corcoran, who took his Bible reading from John 14:1-6, advised Christians not to allow their hearts to be troubled, but to have faith in God.
Corcoran condoled with the family and urged them to be thankful to God that their son died as a Christian.
After the church service, the parents of the co-pilot, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Bello, refused to speak with one of our correspondents.
But the father had during the service said, “We thank God that in the last 26 years, we shared wonderful times with you. We thank God for your life and all it meant to us. We can only live with these memories.
“We are confident that God has better plans for us because He is a good God. Lord, help us to know you more. All we wish and pray for is that your death brings others to know who God is. God is sovereign. We love you, we miss you. Rest in the bosom of the Lord.”
The company’s Lagos Base manager, Captain Ayo Oni, in a tribute said, “He was never late for flights, never had an excuse not to fly…it was his passion,” he said.
A relative of the deceased, Mrs. Femi Bello, said that death took the `young pilot’ too early when his services were most needed at Bristol.
She prayed for the repose of the soul of the late pilot.
A family friend, Mrs. Theresa Okon, said that the late Bello was a celebrated pilot who devoted adequate time to his job.
The funeral mass attracted dignitaries including politicians, businessmen, top civil servants, service chiefs, and others.
The deceased was supposed to have been interred at the Hawkins Cemetery in Calabar after the funeral mass