Skip to main content

Robbers Attack Air Peace Aircraft While Taxiing To Take Off At Lagos Airport

by SaharaReporters, New York 09, 2018
A security scare occurred at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA) in Lagos on Thursday night as burglars attacked Air Peace aircraft at the airport while it was taxiing to take off to Abuja. 
The aircraft, a Boeing 737 was attacked at 7:35 pm by unknown bandits on the domestic runway of the airport.
A source close to the scene told our correspondent that suspected burglars opened cargo hold of Air Peace Flight 7138 taxiing for departure on Runway 18R (A1) of the Lagos Airport.
The Communications Manager, Air Peace, Mr. Chris Iwarah confirmed the incident and a passenger aboard the aircraft also tweeted about the incident.
The forced opening of the cargo of the aircraft led to delay in the departure of the aircraft for close to 2hours as security operatives attached to the airport carried out a comprehensive search on the airplane before being allowed to depart the airport.
Corporate Communications Manager of Air Peace, Iwarah said: “We are sincerely grateful to all our wonderful guests on board Flight 7138 for their support, patience and cooperation throughout the precautionary security checks conducted by Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) squad, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Aviation Security (AVSEC) and our security team after suspected thieves opened the cargo hold of our aircraft holding for departure on Runway 18R (A1) of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos at about 7.35pm on Thursday, February 08, 2018.
“In line with our high security standards and the huge value we place on the lives of our guests and crew, Capt. Arasi insisted on having EOD squad check Flight APK 7138 before takeoff to be doubly sure nothing was deposited in the cargo hold by the suspected thieves to endanger the lives of our guests and crew. Air peace jet “Our guests, who were fully briefed of the development by the pilot-in-command, were advised to disembark from the aircraft and board an Air Peace bus while the joint security operation by EOD, FAAN AVSEC and our security team lasted. The Lagos-Abuja flight was cleared by the security experts after an exhaustive screening of the aircraft lasting about 30 minutes.
“The flight eventually took off at 9.30pm and safely landed in Abuja at about 10.23pm. Our satisfied guests commended the professionalism of Capt. Arasi and his team as well as the high safety standards of Air Peace.”
Iwarah assured that the airline would continue to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of its guests, crew and equipment.
He recalled that such incident was not the time it would be happening at the runway as there was a recent incident involving a private jet where luggage belonging to a Nigerian musician was alleged to be stolen by the airport runway thieves as the private jet was taxiing at the tarmac after landing.
Saharareporters revealed two incidents involving private jets at the airport in December 2017. One was an attack on a private jet arriving Nigeria from Turkey leading to the theft of a bag belonging to a flight attendant, and a second incident involved two popular Nigerian musicians, Tiwa Savage and Wizkid while arriving from a musical show in held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state.
Nigerian federal aviation authorities covered up the incident

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Inside Lamidi Adedibu’s deserted Ibadan ‘palace’, crumbling political dynasty

February 10, 2018 Adedibu's 'palace' (Photo taken by Oladeinde Olawoyin) A one-storey mosque stood adjacent the main building that was Lamidi Adedibu’s main building. There, he held sway as an oracle and dished out orders that were considered laws at a time in Ibadan and other parts of Oyo State. Time was 3:45 p.m. and this reporter just swaggered into the ‘Molete Palace’ of the late Ibadan politician and stalwart of the then ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party. The afternoon sun baked the skin with fiendish delight. At the entrance of the commodious ‘palace’, about five weird-looking middle-aged men sat on a bench, leaving the gate ajar. A banner displaying Mr. Adedibu’s image occupies a part of the gate, swinging slowly to the rhythm of the afternoon wind. Easily noticeable was a narrow, tarred, deserted road that connects the entire ‘palace’ with the major road linking Molete and Oke-Ado. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

2Baba’s publicist, activists urge Nigerian youth on violence-free election

February 14, 2018 Organised campaign by the Initiative for Africa Youth Advancement Advocacy and Empowerment, IAYAAE, themed "Elections without Bloodbath". A publicist to popular Nigerian pop artiste, Innocent Idibia (2Baba), Efe Omoregbe, on Tuesday called on Nigerian youth to act rather than complain about the state of the nation. Mr. Omoregbe spoke at a programme organised by the Initiative for Africa Youth Advancement Advocacy and Empowerment, IAYAAE, themed “Elections without Bloodbath”. The programme, which held at the premises of the Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Secretariat, Lagos, was put together to sensitise the youth on the dangers of electoral violence. Mr. Omoregbe in his intervention called to the youth to deploy affirmative action and apply knowledge gathered synthetic programme during electioneering. He told the crowd to rise and act by taking responsibilities without trading blames, saying the Nigeria of today is the nat...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ogun, Imo, Kano have highest number of Buhari’s appointees — Presidency

November 6, 2017 Maiwada Muhammad President Muhammadu Buhari President Muhammad Buhari has appointed more people from Ogun, Imo and Kano States than other states, the presidency said Saturday. The claim came as the president’s office denied a newspaper report that an overwhelming majority of the Mr. Buhari’s appointees were from his native northern region. The BusinessDay report that 81 of the president’s 100 political appointees are northerners is “misleading”, presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, said in a statement. “To claim, suggest or attempt to insinuate that the President’s appointments are tilted in favour of a section of the country is simply untrue and certainly uncharitable,” he said. Mr. Adesina showed a graphical illustration of different states and the number of top appointees from the respective states. The graph shows that Ogun state has the highest number of appointments wi...
Post a Comment
Read more