A middle-aged man attempting to steal electrical cables at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria’s (FAAN) powerhouse was fatally electrocuted on Monday.
News About Nigeria reports that FAAN’s Managing Director, Mrs. Olubunmi Kuku, confirmed the incident and vowed to take all necessary measures to prevent unauthorised access to restricted areas.
The agency is committed to enhancing security and preventing similar incidents in the future.
Speaking at the commissioning of 30 Special Forces that would man the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, she stressed that some individuals had crossed the airport’s perimeter fences in an attempt to steal airfield lighting equipment.
She said, “Our environment is quite unique in the sense that even though we do have some security issues nationwide, we have been quite lucky within the airport environment as we haven’t had any of those major incidents. We do have, you know, individual issues.
“So, across the airside, you’ve seen where we have people who are either crossing our fence, trying to steal our airfield lighting equipment, or potentially even harming some of the individuals that we have on-site. We had an incident where an individual actually went into our powerhouse and got electrocuted.”
On the inaugurated Special Forces, she said FAAN had looked forward to unveiling them in the last six months, adding that there was conversation around funding and giving them arms.
According to her, a lot of investment had gone into securing their service, from armoury to training of the personnel to get the arms as well as the ammunition.
Addressing the security personnel, Kuku said, “What I want to say is that you have been specially selected to be part of this unit. This is a special unit. Hopefully, there won’t be any need to use your arms, but rather to leverage this as a deterrent. What is critical is that we want you to work very closely with the other security agencies at the airport. This is an environment that we want to keep safe and secure. You’ve probably seen a lot of the news around some of the illicit behaviours that are happening at the airports.
“There have also been all sorts of activities that we also need to put some pressure on.”
Recall that Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, expressed sadness over the prevalence rate of touts and extortionists at the country’s international airports.
Keyamo lamented that he had received a series of complaints from Nigerians concerning both situations, saying it was giving the nation a negative image.
The minister had said practical steps to transform the situation would be unveiled.
