Posted by By GOWON EMAKPE, Abuja on
A potentially fatal security breach was averted in Lagos on Tuesday night when a man with a gun and 50 rounds of ammunition was arrested inside a London-bound British Airways jet at the Murtala Muhammed Airport few minutes to its take-off.
A potentially fatal security breach was averted in Lagos on Tuesday night when a man with a gun and 50 rounds of ammunition was arrested inside a London-bound British Airways jet at the Murtala Muhammed Airport few minutes to its take-off.
The man, whose identity was not disclosed was said to have beaten the various security checks at the airport and was comfortably seated when an eagle-eyed security agent inside the plane arrested him and handed him over to the airport security.
Minister of State for Air Transport, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, who briefed journalists on the matter, in Abuja on Wednesday, said the incident happened at about 10p.m.
He, however, declined to go into details, saying he would not dabble into security issues until investigations were completed.
The minister, who praised officials of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigerian (FAAN) for their dedication and commitment, said the security and intelligent agencies were already working on the incident.
Said he: "This is a very, very serious issue indeed, and I will not go any further than that. We must respect the fact that the security agents who are intelligent agents are doing their jobs.
"Some serious things happened and our securities were on top of the situation and ensured it did not happen. That means our security system is working and that should encourage people," he added.
Managing Director of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mohammed Yusuf, praised the airport security for averting what could have been a potentially dangerous situation.
"There was a security breach yesterday (Tuesday). We will not go into details, but we thank God for the collaborative effort of our security in the airports," he said.
Executive Director of Security, Mr Sale Dumumo, said many bad eggs had been removed from the system as a result of the restructuring going on in the ministry, saying the security has been tightened at the nation's various airports.