Body of former Taraba state governor, Suntai arrives Nigeria

The remains of the immediate past governor of Taraba State, Danbaba Danfulani Suntai, have arrived Nigeria from the United States.


The body arrived the country Friday morning.

The body of the late governor, which arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja enroute Jalingo few minutes past 5am, was thereafter received by a delegation of the Taraba State Government.

Sutai’s wife, Mrs. Hauwa was also spotted at the airport terminal at about 7.07am accompanied by aides and security men.

Suntai died in a US hospital on June 7, 2017 after surviving a fatal air crash in a plane piloted by himself in 2012.

Read a few facts about the ex-governor from the day he was involved in the plane crash to the day he was declared dead;

October 25, 2012

Governor Danbaba Suntai was involved in a plane crash. The plane, a Cessna 208, 5N-BMJ, crashed at about 7.45 p.m. He was piloting the plane, which crashed near the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) depot in Yola, the Adamawa state capital. He was taken to Yola Specialist Hospital for treatment but was later moved to the better-equipped Federal Medical Centre in Yola.

October 26, 2012

He was flown from Yola to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, in an air ambulance at about 12.25pm, from where he was taken to the National Hospital, Abuja. The injured governor was flown in air an ambulance to Germany from Abuja. The governor was moved out of the National Hospital, Abuja, where he was receiving treatment at about 3:30 p.m. President Goodluck Jonathan visited the governor at the National Hospital, where he said Suntai was in stable condition.

November 14, 2012

The Taraba State House of Assembly invoked Section 190(2) of the Nigerian Constitution empowering the state’s Deputy Governor, Garba Umar, to act as governor.

December 13, 2012

Wife of Taraba governor, Hauwa Suntai was delivered of twin babies in a German hospital while tendering to her sick husband.

January 1, 2013 

Pictures of ailing Taraba Governor, Danbaba Suntai, emerged on social media with his new babies.

March 23, 2013

The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Taraba Specialist Hospital, Prof. Zakari Aliyu, disclosed that the governor had been moved to the John Hopkins University in the United States.

June 17, 2013

Suntai was discharged from the John Hopkins Hospital in Maryland State, three months after he was brought to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) as a result of the injuries he sustained during the October 2012 plane crash that involved him and some of his aides in Adamawa state.

July 23, 2013 

The security aide to Governor Danbaba Suntai of Taraba state, Iliya Dasat, who was involved in the October 25, 2012 air crash alongside his principal in Yola, Adamawa State, returned to the country after being discharged from a German hospital. 

August 3, 2013

Members of the PDP Fact-finding Committee on the Taraba state Political Situation paid solidarity visit to Gov. Danbaba Suntai in New York, U.S.

August 21, 2013

Suntai’s wife, Hauwa, hinted of the ex-governor’s return to the state after 10 months after spending 10 months abroad on medical attention.

June 28, 2017 

Suntai was announced dead in a United States of America hospital.