Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
Flights were grounded Monday at Akure Airport, Ondo State, following the discovery of a crater on the airport’s runway.
The crater was allegedly dug on the runway by unknown persons suspected to be hoodlums.
The development was said to have forced the management of the airport to close the runway in order to prevent flights from taking off or landing in the airport.
A source at the airport revealed that the officials of the airport authority discovered the crater in the night and consequently closed the runway.
‘The hole was discovered during the early morning check by the security at the airport. We are yet to know those behind it. I think the intention of the miscreants was to cause a plane crash in the airport. The security operatives have been invited to see the place. The government has to deploy security agents to the airport so as not to allow the miscreants cause havoc there,’ the source told Daily Sun.
The spokeswoman of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Henrietta Yakubu, reacting to the incident, said there were cracks discovered on the runway during routine checks on Monday.
She said the cracks did not affect flight operations in the airport.
Yakubu said that repair works have commenced on the cracked portions of the runway.