The scare on board the plane made the pilot of the Boeing 737-700 to immediately contact the control tower in Abuja and called for an emergency landing permit, which was immediately granted him.
Information gathered by Nigerian Tribune from a source
at Abuja airport indicated that the flight took off from Maiduguri airport and was heading to Enugu airport before the passenger’s action caused the emergency landing of the plane.
Another version of the story indicated that a Boko Haram member with explosives attempted to bomb Arik Air plane that just landed in Abuja from Maiduguri.
It was gathered that the suspect tried frantically to detonate the bomb which refused to explode before he was arrested at Abuja airport.
But, in a statement signed by the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, the minister denied the incident, describing it as a rumour without any iota of truth.
Oduah described the incident as total false, assuring that the government would continue to safeguard all airport environments in the country.
Oduah, in the statement signed by her Special Assistant, Media, Mr Joe Obi, stated that a passenger, Aminu Galadima, an indigene of Minna, Niger State, boarded a Maiduguri-Abuja-bound Arik Air aircraft with registration number 5N MJE after going through all mandatory security screening, stressing that nothing incriminating was found on him.
The statement reads in part: “However, mid-air, the passenger began to act strangely, loudly screaming ''God is great." Fellow passengers, alarmed by this behaviour, rushed to apprehend him. A thorough search by fellow passengers and crew members revealed nothing dangerous on him. The pilot immediately radioed Air Traffic Control and airport security operatives.
“The plane landed safely at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, at exactly 1253 hrs and the suspect handed over to the State Security Service (SSS) at about 1445 hrs where he is currently being interrogated.
No comments:
Post a Comment