Abuja-bound Med-View Airline flight were yesterday arrested by security
personnel of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) at the Murtala
Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos for stealing N1.5 million cash from the
hand-luggage compartment of the aircraft.
The flight, which was scheduled to depart the
airport for Abuja at 9 a.m., was delayed as a result of the incident.
One of the passengers, from whose luggage the
money was stolen, raised the alarm which attracted other passengers.
In the pandemonium that ensued, the security
personnel were invited by the cabin crew.
The pilot insisted that nobody must leave the
aircraft until the arrival of the security personnel.
When they arrived, two of the passengers were
fingered as having stolen the cash and the search started with them.
The cash was found in their pockets.
Realising that the game was up, they begged for
forgiveness but the remaining passengers insisted that they must be punished.
The presence of the security personnel saved
them from being beaten up.
They were immediately taken away for
interrogation at FAAN’s Crime Investigation Bureau, from where they would be
handed over to the police for further investigations.
General Manager, Corporate Communications of
FAAN, Yakubu Dati, confirmed the incident,
He assured the public, especially passengers,
that “people engaged in nefarious activities at our airports will no longer
find life comfortable as adequate security measures have been put in place to
make airports safer and more secure.”
Dati also congratulated the officers and men of
the Lagos State Police Command for arresting the gang of armed robbers who
raided the car park of the airport on March 13, 2013 and dispossessed illegal
bureau de change operators of huge sums of money.
According to Dati, the gallantry and
professionalism shown by the policemen, who apprehended the robbers and brought
them to justice, is commendable.
He also appreciated the cooperation that the
Airport Police Command extends to FAAN’s Directorate of Aviation Security
Services in checking crime and other nefarious activities around the airports
nationwide, especially the international airports, which are major gateways
into Nigeria.
The FAAN spokesman said the authority in
collaboration with other security agencies at airports, has recently put
measures in place, including the employment of competent hands, to make
airports safer and more secure, in line with the Transformation Agenda of
President Goodluck Jonathan in the aviation industry.
