The federal government through the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, has ordered the immediate suspension of 3 top officials of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja over security breach and furore that greeted the landing of a Turkish Airline over the weekend.
The passengers protesting the misplacement of their luggages by Turkish Airlines gained access to the tarmac and allegedly stopped a Turkish Airline flight 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 said that the Ministry had also ordered thorough investigation to ascertain the cause of the breach, including why the airline brought in passengers without their luggage. The minister said the explanation by the officials of the airport that the security personnel on duty were overpowered was not acceptable, ordering thorough investigation into the incident.
He stated that the actions of the passengers in forcing their way into the tarmac and blocking the aircraft from taking off was a security breach which must not be condoned. “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.
“As to the airline also, the Consumer Protection Unit of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has been ordered to find out what happened, how compliant they are and deal with it accordingly,’’ he said.
