By Chinelo Obogo
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), has denied allegations made by a passenger, Mr. Olakunle Fapohunda, who claimed that airport security officers stole £400 belonging to him while he was going through the scanning machine at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) recently.
In a statement signed by the General Manager, Corporate Affairs, FAAN, Henrietta Yakubu, the agency said that it investigated the allegation but found it to be false, insisting that the CCTV footage at the security points showed that none of the two officers accused touched the tray.
FAAN said that the only person who touched the tray was a ground handler who was immediately behind him, and only pushed the tray forward to create space for her bag to come out of the X Ray machine.
“With respect to the allegation by Mr. Olakunle Tayo Fapohunda, that two officials of Aviation Security connived, and pilfered the sum of £400 from his wallet while going through the scanning machine on Wednesday, December 22, 2021, enroute London Heathrow on a Virgin Atlantic flight, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) will like to inform you that we have thoroughly investigated the allegation but found it to be untrue, as none of the two officers touched the tray as clearly shown by our CCTV footage.
“We were able to clearly establish that throughout Mr. Olakunle’s movement within the screening point, nobody removed anything from his tray. While we appreciate this feedback and would like to express our appreciation to him for the same, we would like to state that the Aviation Security Corp is a disciplined Corp, that has consistently recovered and returned many items forgotten or lost by passengers over the years.
“Although, we are mindful of the fact that it is not impossible to have a few bad eggs within the Corp, we will like to assure you that the Authority does not condone such acts of indiscipline, and we have conducted this investigation with utmost care and due diligence.
“While advising that we all should be careful with making public unsubstantiated allegations because such acts are capable of ruining the lives and careers of those involved, we will like to reassure our esteemed passengers that our airports are safe and secure, and our officers will continue to discharge their duties efficiently and professionally”, Yakubu said.
FAAN further promised that they are open to making the contents of the CCTV footage available to Mr Olakunle in case he wants to see it.
