Mass Sack Looms In FAAN Benin Office Over Security Lapses

There are strong indications that the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN) may sack some of its staff at the Benin office  following what an informed source attributed to ‘serious security  breach’ by  Aviation security, (AVSEC) saddled with the responsibility of access to controlled areas of the airport.


LEADERSHIP reliably  gathered yesterday that investigation team will arrive Benin today following the successful sneaking of a 15 year old teenage boy, Daniel Ihekina, into the wheels of the plane in Benin on a Lagos bound Arik passenger airline at the weekend.

 The embarrassing incident is happening at a time FAAN is trying to bring about reforms to the aviation industry in Nigeria which has left concern citizens expressing disappointment over security arrangement in the nation’s airports.

Pilot of the Arik airline ( flight W3 544)  was reported to have alerted the control tower shortly before take-off of the presence of a strange boy in the bush about 200-300 meters at the runway 23.

The control tower in Benin was said to have told the captain that they were sending security men to the place to apprehend the boy as the captain was making his final turn before take-off but no response from the airport authority in Benin.

FAAN staff who craze anonymity yesterday stated, “there is no security at the Benin airport and that was why the boy was able to hide himself in the wheel of the Arik plane to Lagos. It is not enough to have a beautiful edifice for airport without adequate security checks and monitoring”.

Continuing, he said, “the boy had easy access to the airport through the Akenzua axis because there was no perimeter fencing at the crash gate.