The General Manager of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Yakubu Dati, on Saturday said that the recent event which led to a teenage boy, Daniel Ihekina, hiding in the wheel well of a plane from Benin to Lagos is not the first of its kind, as such was recorded in 1928 for the first time.
“It is not a breach of security,” he said, while speaking on Sunrise, adding that “security is not a destination. It’s a process.”
He countered claims that the young boy carried out the act, undetected. “We need to get the issue in proper perspective and the case has been made clear. He was detected at the Benin airport.”
However, he admitted that “along the line, somebody did not play his role” which forms the basis of on-going investigation into the case.
He disclosed that a passenger had notified the cabin crew of strange movement when the plane was at take-off point and blamed the pilot for not aborting the flight for a proper check.
“It did not happen at the terminal” he said.
He assured that the authorities are looking into the situation but “in aviation, we don’t try to lay blames. What we try to see is find out what happened” as well as who did not play his role well and to ensure that there is no repeat.
He said the boy could have found his way through the 22 kilometer airport as well as through the perimeter fence which had broken down.
He added that not all Nigerian airports have complete perimeter fences, a situation the aviation minister, Stella Oduah, is working to change through the aviation master plan.