The Federal Airport Authority of
Nigeria (FAAN) has spoken on the arrest of a young man who attempted to access
an Air Peace flight at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, on
Friday.
The flight heading to Owerri, Imo
state capital, was taxiing when a young man who was hiding inside the bush
attempted to force his way in.
In a statement on Friday, FAAN
said 171 passengers and six crew members were on board the aircraft.
“Security personnel of Aviation
Security (AVSEC) manning the holding area of the domestic terminal of the
airport rushed to stop him and a struggle ensued. All efforts to stop the
intruder by the unarmed AVSEC personnel failed as the intruder continued to resist
arrest,” FAAN said in a statement.
“While the struggle was ongoing,
the AVSEC personnel called for reinforcement and alerted the pilot of CS-TQU of
the intrusion, and to delay the aircraft to allow for a successful apprehension
of the intruder.
“The intruder was eventually
apprehended by the AVSEC personnel with the support of the reinforcement and
was taken into custody for investigations.
“The aircraft was also advised to
return to base for necessary safety/security inspections in line with standard
procedure. Subsequently, the aircraft departed Lagos at 10:16hrs with 171
passengers and 6 crew members.”
Commenting on the incident, Rabiu
Hamisu, managing director of FAAN, said disaster was averted through the
arrest.
He commended the action of the
aviation security team.
Speaking on the incident, Air
Peace spokesman, Stanley Olisa, said while the man was attempting to access the
aircraft, there was another private jet behind.
“It was the pilot-in-command of
the private jet that informed the Air Peace’s pilot-in-command that a young man
was trying to force his way into the aircraft,” he said.
