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Chinelo Obogo
It cost a scare within the airport security circles yesterday when a man was arrested by operatives at the Murtala Muhammed while trying to sneak into a slow-moving Air Peace commercial plane, preparing for a takeoff to Owerri. He was nabbed after the pilot of a private jet coming behind the aircraft alerted both the Air Peace pilot and security operatives of the man’s activities. Subsequently, he was immediately arrested and taken into custody for questioning.
In a public statement issued on the incident, the management of Air Peace noted that the man whose identity is yet to be disclosed, was a stowaway who thought that the plane was headed overseas. It added that the suspect was being held by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) for further investigation.
A part of the statement read: “This morning, at exactly 9:10 at the MMA1, Lagos, an Owerri – bound Air Peace aircraft was taxing towards the threshold for take-off, when a man, in his twenties, emerged from the bush along the runway and tried to gain access into the aircraft through the wheel-well.
“There was a private jet behind the aircraft. The pilot-in-command of the private jet informed the Air Peace pilot-in-command that a young man obviously in his twenties, was trying to force his way into the aircraft.
“The security wing of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria was alerted and the man was accosted and whisked away. He is currently in the regulator’s custody. When interrogated on why he took the action, the man stated that he thought the aircraft was headed overseas.”
