An Arik Air flight from Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos to Abuja on Saturday evening was disrupted before take-off.
In a video shared by AIT on Sunday, passengers were seen
waiting outside the aircraft, having been asked to disembark for a thorough
security check.
The passenger who recorded the incident said a “fake
passenger was caught and arrested on the flight”.
“It took us about 30 minutes for them to do the check-in and
the boy that ran into the plane, a fake passenger, has been caught and
arrested, and they said he will not get bail until he is properly investigated.
So, they asked us to come out and do a proper check-in,” the passenger said.
However, speaking to TheCable, Adebanji Ola, head of
corporate communications at Arik Air, clarified that the individual was not a
fake passenger but rather a disruptive traveller.
According to Ola, the passenger attempted to exit the
aircraft during boarding but was quickly apprehended and handed over to the
Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) aviation security (AVSEC).
He said following standard procedure, the airline instructed
all passengers to leave the aircraft, allowing for a full security check after
which the flight departed for Abuja.
“On flight W3 735
from Lagos to Abuja on October 26, 2024, a disruptive passenger was caught
while running out of the aircraft at a time boarding was on,” Ola said.
“He was immediately handed over to the Federal Airports
Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) aviation security (AVSEC).
“In line with standard operating procedure, all other
passengers on board the aircraft were disembarked, and a thorough security
check was carried out in the aircraft.
“A second boarding was then called after the security check
and the flight thereafter departed for Abuja.”
Ola said the arrested passenger was taken to the FAAN AVSEC
office till the aircraft arrived at its destination.
‘DISRUPTIVE PASSENGER
DEBOARDED FOR SAFETY OF OTHER PASSENGERS’
Confirming the incident, Michael Achimugu, director of
public affairs and consumer protection at the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority
(NCAA), said the flight, initially scheduled to take off around 6:52pm, was delayed
due to the passenger’s behaviour.
Achimugu added that the passenger’s parents were invited
after which he was taken away.
“The flight was
supposed to take off at 6.20pm. It was supposed to be this time of departure.
Now, it was not a fake passenger. It was a passenger on board who, due to
suspected, use of hard drugs began to behave crazy,” he said.
“The airline staff had to restrain him for a while before
deboarding him for the safety of the other passengers. He was taken by AVSEC to
Tango City for holding until the flight eventually took off around 6.52pm.
“There was a
32-minute delay to the flight due to the unruly passenger behaviour.
“His parents were invited to pick him up from there. They
came and took him away. The airline departed finally at 18.52 hours with 126
passengers on board.“
Achimugu reiterated that no fake passenger was on board and
that the situation was resolved.
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