The House of Representatives on Thursday asked the Ministry of Aviation to speed up the perimeter fencing of all airports in Nigeria.
The House said that budgetary provisions had been made for the perimeter fencing since 2009, but expressed concern that the projects were yet to be implemented in most airports.
It passed the resolution following a motion on “Incessant incidents at the Bauchi Airstrip” sponsored by a member of the Congress for Progressives Change, Mr. Sani Abdu.
The motion had raised Monday‘s incident at the airport when an aircraft hit a herd of sheep on the runway while landing.
On board the aircraft were top politicians, including the vice-presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Mr. Fola Adeola.
The presidential candidate of the party, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and the National Leader of ACN, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, who were in a separate aircraft, had to be delayed in the air for about one hour for the runway to be cleared.
Abdu said that but for “divine providence,” the politicians would have been killed.
He added, “This is not the first time such incidents were averted by divine providence due to the same reasons of animals and men on motorcycles crossing the runway when planes are approaching it for landing.
“Most airports in Nigeria operate without perimeter fencing, which is an international requirement.
Abdu faulted the claims of the Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Fidelia Njeze, that 30 per cent of the perimeter fencing of the airport had been completed.
“I have been to that airport and I can report that nothing has been done there; there is nothing on the ground,” he told the House.
He also said that the Bauchi State Government was not saying the truth when it claimed not to have been aware of the visit of the ACN’s team to the state for campaign.
The Minority Leader of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, blamed the incident on the non-implementation of budget by the Federal Government.
The lawmaker from Lagos State held the view that had the perimeter fencing of the airstrip been executed, sheep and goats would not have had access to the runway.
He criticised the Federal Executive Council for describing the incident as an “act of God.”
“It was not an act of God; it was an act of negligence.
“It is not enough for us in this country to blame incidents on act of God when the reality is that people simply fail to do their job,” Gbajamiala added.
Like Abdu, he called for an “independent investigation” into the incident.
Another opposition lawmaker from Kano State, Mr. Ubale Kiru, expressed surprise that Njeze and the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, tried to douse the seriousness of the incident.
He said, “How can they go to FEC and say that the incident was not serious?
“The same government has mandated the Accident Investigation Bureau to look into the incident.”
Two Peoples Democratic Party members, Mr. Ike Chinwo, and Mr. Awalu Mohammed, however, opposed the motion, alleging that the incident was political.
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