By John Ikani
The airfield lighting systems at the domestic runway of Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos have been stolen.
The theft is said to have been carried out by yet-to-be-identified workers who took advantage of the closure of the runway, which has been ongoing for about three months.
The equipment, which aids aircraft to take off and land at the domestic airport at night, was installed on the 2.7-kilometer-long runway in November 2022.
The theft has led to the suspension of top officials at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), following directives from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Aviation, Dr. Emmanuel Meribole.
A source who pleaded anonymity alleged that the thieves took advantage of the closure of the runway to commit the crime.
The source said that the thieves removed almost all of the lighting equipment, and that the damage was extensive.
According to the source, there has been a “regular incursion and stealing of safety components” at airports in Nigeria, adding that the thieves are a syndicate that includes workers at FAAN and accomplices from outside.
Reacting to the development, Group Capt. John Ojikutu, a former Military Commandant at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, said the theft was not new at MMA, and that he had dealt with similar incidents in the past.
“I wish the FAAN management could go back to 1990 when similar things happened in the airport. I was convinced that it was an ‘insiders threats’. What did I do? I positioned soldiers on the runways and ensured that no FAAN maintenance staff went near the runways for anything without my approval; otherwise, it was shoot at first sight. It stopped completely. Runway lightings were being stolen and my conclusion then was that runway lightings can only be useful for runways and not roads or houses.
“Those stolen were being sold to FAAN by the same workers. That is why I am not in support of the unions carrying the picketing of their employers to the airport’s security controlled areas.”
Also adressing newsmen about the incident, the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, FAAN, Mr Yakubu Funtua, said “Investigations had been launched and that the agency would do all within its powers to avoid a reoccurrence.
“FAAN is doing all it can to get to the bottom of this. You are very aware that there are many agencies within the airport, including the different ones that are supposed to be taking care of security there. So, it would be unfair to put this (the theft) on our (members of) staff and I don’t think there is any FAAN (member of) staff that wants the agency to crash.
“Note that most of our revenue comes from Lagos. So, what kind of staff will ‘kill the goose that lays the egg?’ However, we can’t say exactly who did it, but we are doing all that we can to recover what is lost. We are going to recover it because we are going to find out those people who did it and then block all those loopholes.”
