POLICE ARREST PASSENGER FOR SMOKING ON BOARD LAGOS-BOUND FLIGHT

The Airport Police Command has arrested one Lawal Oluwabusola for smoking onboard an Arik Air flight from London to Lagos against international safety regulations, which establish all commercial flight cabins as non-smoking.
A statement by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Airport Command, Mr. Livinus Chukwuma, said the man was apprehended on arrival at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
According to Chukwuma, the suspect was smoking an electronic cigarette in the lavatory, which triggered off emergency alarm system in the aircraft causing fear among passengers.
The PPRO said the suspect’s action was not in violation of in-flight safety procedures.
Chukwuma said the suspect had been arraigned in court on a two-count charge in accordance with Section 2(1) of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) by law and Section 166(1) (d) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.
In a related development, the command has also apprehended a man for stealing the sum of $1,400 from a passenger at the MMIA. The passenger was billed to travel with Air France to Paris.
Chukwuma said the passenger was resting on a couch in the Gabfol Lounge while waiting for her flight. But when she left the lounge to board her flight she forgot her purse, which contained the said sum of money.
In order to maintain law and order at the airports, the Airport Police Commissioner, CP Frederick Lakanu, has urged travellers nationwide to conform to the rules and regulations guiding the airports and aviation industry, as ignorance is no excuse for acts against the law.