FG suspends Abuja airport manager, others over tarmac invasion

The Federal Government on Sunday began a probe into the security breach that occurred at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, where scores of angry passengers of a Turkish Airlines flight invaded the NAIA’s tarmac and stopped the carrier’s aircraft from taking off.

As a result of the incident, which occurred from 11pm on December 24 till around 2am on December 25, 2015, the government stated that it had suspended the head of security, the NAIA Manager as well as the Terminal Manager pending when investigations were completed.

The Minister of State for Aviation, Capt. Hadi Sirika, stated that the passengers breached the security apparatus at the airport, stressing that the incident was dangerous, considering the level of global terrorism.

Explaining what happened on the fateful night, after he had been briefed by airport officials, Sirika said, “There was an incident where some agitated passengers of Turkish Airlines, who arrived without their luggage, found their way to the tarmac, where the aircraft was parked. This is a breach of security and that is why I came out to see for myself what actually happened.”

Asked if he was satisfied with the explanations given by the airport officials on the reasons why the passengers were able to penetrate the tarmac, Sirika said, “It is not satisfactory because the primary purpose of government is to secure lives and property. And the cardinal point that this government gave when it came to power was that it would secure and manage the country; so, we cannot fail in aviation.

“Having regard to global terrorism and how aviation has become a source of terror, we cannot afford these lapses; it is not correct, we condemn it. I have ordered a thorough investigation into the matter immediately and all of those that are manning this facility, namely the airport manager, terminal manager and the head of security, should hand over to the next man in rank pending investigation to know what actually happened.

“Also, the Consumer Protection Unit has been ordered to find out what happened and how compliant the airline is and deal with the matter accordingly. We know the passengers were many and apparently there were lapses in security and that was why they gained access to the tarmac. But this is a serious breach of security.”

A military official, who was on the ground on the night of the incident, stated that trouble started when all the passengers disembarked and found out that their luggage had not arrived in Abuja.

The official, while explaining to the minister, said, “When I sensed that there was going to be a problem, immediately I called the commandant and reported the issue to him. The commandant called for assistance. This is because after the passengers saw that their luggage did not arrive with them, they started to rush out from the waiting point to the tarmac.

“Before I could get to the waiting point where travellers clear their luggage, many of the passengers had already rushed to the tarmac. So, myself and a few operatives on the ground tried to calm them. But at that point, we figured out that if you try to stop them, they might turn violent.

“I looked around for the airline staff to talk to them but couldn’t see any. So the few security officials on the ground started to discuss with the travellers, who were highly agitated. This happened around 11pm on December 24 and the dialogue to calm the passengers lasted for about four hours.”

The military personnel, who pleaded not to have his name in print, added that an agreement was reached when the station manager of Turkish Airlines suddenly showed up and agreed to write an undertaking that the carrier would bring in the luggage on December 26.

He added, “The passengers agreed to leave the tarmac around 2am after the airline’s representative signed an undertaking that their luggage would be in Abuja on December 26. That was when the aircraft was eventually allowed to fly. The pieces of luggage are here and people are coming to claim their belongings.”

After listening to the explanations of the military personnel, the minister asked the Acting Head of Security, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Abuja, Mr. Ali Hausawa, why the passengers were allowed entry to the tarmac.

In response, Hausawa said, “It is not that we allowed them; they forced themselves to the tarmac because we had just one worker on duty at the time. We do not expect them to pass through an active luggage carrying belt, but they were agitated and angry and they passed through it and gained entry to the tarmac.

“So they overpowered the official on the ground at that time. We had just one man because there is a shortage of manpower. All the men on duty were stationed at various locations at that time; so, the passengers overpowered the security personnel.”

On the ladder incident at the Bauchi airport involving Aero Contractors, Sirika said he had ordered that the airline be punished, adding that this was carried out by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.

“I ordered that Aero should be punished and fined and also the captain, who had the responsibility of commanding that aircraft, should be punished and fined as well,” he said.