By Chinelo Obogo
Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Musa Nuhu, said it was likely that an insider might have been responsible for the theft of Air aircraft’s Flight Management System two weeks ago.
Speaking to the media at the weekend in Lagos, Nuhu explained that whoever removed the component did it professionally without damaging anything else.
He, however, described the theft as an isolated case and not enough to categorise the nation’s airports’ security as porous.
Last week, Daily Sun reported that a Boeing 737-73V, with registration number EI-ULN, belonging to Arik Air, was burgled at the domestic terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and its Flight Management System.
A source at the airline confirmed to Daily Sun that the theft took place in the late hours of Wednesday, January 19, to the early hours of Thursday, January 20, 2022. This led to flights cancellations and postponement.
However, Nuhu said investigations were ongoing on the incident, which could not be described as vandalism.
“Investigations are ongoing on the incident, but I won’t say it was a vandalism. What happened is that somebody who obviously knew where the aircraft is, went to the E and E2 compartments, removed a component professionally without damaging anything. So, figure out that for yourself.
“As far as I am concerned, it is an ongoing investigation. So, we will wait for the outcome. It is very clear that I cannot go to the very technical part of an aircraft and remove something there. It means I must know something about it and I am not new to the system. Whoever did that job knew what he was doing. The security agencies are investigating the issue,” he said.
On security at the airport, Nuhu said: “How many aircraft have been vandalised in Nigeria in the past 10 years? Let’s not use a single issue to destroy our country. This is one incident, which seems to have been done by a professional, maybe an insider. Have we had any case of people going to vandalise an aircraft in the last 10 years? This is one case and we should not use it to destroy the reputation of our industry.”