Louis Ibah

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has commenced an investigation into a severe breach of security at the Lagos airport leading to an unidentified man having access to the runway to prevent the take-off of a Port Harcourt-bound Azman Air.

Spokeswoman for FAAN, Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu, in statement said the lone man had been apprehended and after a thorough check on the aircraft by safety experts, it was allowed to fly to Port Harcourt when nothing was found to have compromised it’s airworthiness state by the intruder.

Security officials on the beat where the breach occurred at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Lagos have been suspended pending the conclusion of investigations.

In separate videos sent out by passengers on board the aircraft, the man was seen at some point sitting on top one of the aircraft engines and at another point he was walking around the aircraft with a bag in one hand.

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Most passengers who were uncertain about the mission of the man had feared that he could be a terrorist with the aim of harming the flight. The incident lasted for about 30minutes before Aviation Security (also called AVSEC) could weigh in and arrest the man.

Part of the statement by the FAAN spokeswoman read: “At about 10:09 hours, aviation security officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria arrested an intruder who was sighted trying to climb into an Azman aircraft waiting for clearance from Air Traffic Controllers.

“The pilot of the Azman aircraft with registration number 5N-HAI departing Lagos to Port Harcourt reported the incident and AVSEC officials swiftly responded. The man has been apprehended and is now in AVSEC’s custody even as FAAN is investigating the incident.”

There is, however, the speculation within the Lagos airport that the man could have been mentally unstable.