Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has narrated his experience aboard an Ethiopian Airline flight to Murtala International Airport, Lagos on Wednesday, May 4, 2019 which escaped a crash landing.

Nearly 400 people including crew members were on board the Boeing 777-300 which almost crashed while trying to land on the airport’s tarmac.

The former President, popularly referred to as ‘letter writer’, while recounting the horrible experience aboard the plane said, “While it all happened, I was reading my papers”.

“One man, who was next to me, said, ‘Oga, you no worry?’ I said, ‘If I worry, what will I do? If you are on a plane and you have a situation like this, why should you worry?’ I left everything in the hands of God”.

The former leader was on his way to the country from a stakeholders meeting on continental trade and implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA) which ended on Tuesday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

He further recounted, “I was on the airplane, rain just came down heavily, the pilot thought he could land. And he landed, he touched down. But I think he took a swift decision that he had to take off again.

“So, he took off. If he did not, I think he probably would have overrun the runway. He then apologized and said he would try to land again. He tried again, and we landed safely. And we all clapped”

The former President and other past leaders were noticeably absent at the inauguration ceremony of President Muhammadu Buhari at the Eagle Square in Abuja.