Minister suspends top airport officials over security breach at Abuja airport

Minister of State for Aviation Hadi Sirika has ordered the suspension of three top officials of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, over an incident involving Turkish Airlines at the airport.

The minister told  reporters in Abuja yesterday ,after listening to explanations by the airport officials on the incident which happened at about 11pm on December 24.

He said the ministry ordered thorough investigation to ascertain the cause of the breach and why the airline brought in passengers without their luggage.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN),he stated that the action of the passengers, forcing their way into the tarmac and blocking the aircraft from taking off was a security breach which must not be condoned.
Sirika said:

“There has been an unfortunate incident where some agitated passengers of the Turkish Airlines arrived without their luggage making them to force their way into the tarmac which is a breach of security.
“The explanation given is not satisfactory because the primary purpose of the government is to ensure safety of lives and property of its citizens.
“The cardinal objective of this administration is to secure the country and manage it and we cannot fail in aviation and we cannot fail in this important assignment at a very important point.
“We have ordered for the investigation into the matter immediately and all the people that are manning the various places; Airport Manager, Terminal Manager and Head of Security, should handover to the next man in rank pending the outcome of the investigation.
“As to the airline also, the Consumer Protection Unit of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has been ordered to find out what happened, how compliant they are and deal with it accordingly.”

He added that the ministry was yet to get the flight manifest to be able to ascertain the number of passengers involved.
According to him, the passengers got agitated and got access into the prohibited area because there was security lapse.