Security beefed up at airports over report of planned attacks

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4 years ago

An air of uncertainty has enveloped the country’s aviation sector with the news about the alarm raised over the plans to attack some airports across the country.

It has however been gathered that security around the country’s airports has been beefed up to avoid being caught unawares.

The news which went viral on social media revealed that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has been alerted by the Ministry of Aviation over plots by some criminal elements to attack airports across the country.

Among the airports earmarked for attacks according to the information include those in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna, Maiduguri, Sokoto, and Kano.

While the news has set the entire sector into frenzy, efforts made by the Tribune Online to confirm the authenticity of the report from the officials of FAAN including the spokesperson failed as they did not respond to calls and messages.

The FAAN officials were said to have preferred not to issue any statement on the planned attacks in order not to escalate the tension already created by the alarm.

The information was attributed to a memo dated April 9, 2021, which stated: “I am directed to convey an alert from the Ministry of Aviation regarding security threats by criminal elements against Airports in Nigeria and to request for the immediate enumeration of necessary countermeasures for the protection of Airports/Facilities under your purview.”

Reacting, the former managing director of Afrijet airlines, Alhajij Muhammed Tukur, while saying he was aware of the rumour, however said the security of the country was not as bad as people thought.

According to him, people carrying this rumour are trying to instill fears in the minds of Nigerians in view of the security breach at the Kaduna airport and the aviation quarters in Jos recently.

The development may not be unconnected to an earlier statement issued by FAAN directing that henceforth, all drivers must park and wait inside the car parks while arriving passengers walk down to the car parks to board their vehicles.

FAAN had in the statement declared: “For departing passengers, drivers are only allowed to drop off passengers in front of the terminals. They are not permitted to wait for any reason after dropping their passengers, it is only a ‘Drop Off’ zone.”