A stowaway has been found inside a parked aircraft belonging to United Nigeria Airlines at the Lagos airport.
In a statement issued by the spokesperson of the airline, Mr
Achilles Chud Uchegbu, the stowaway was caught during the preflight inspection
Sunday morning.
According to Uchegbu, “a stowaway was found in one of our
aircraft parked at MMA2 Ikeja. The middle-aged man, who looked unkempt and is
suspected to be unconscious, was arrested and taken in for interrogation.”
The aircraft in question last operated Abuja-Lagos at 7.30
pm on September 3, 2022, and was securely parked at the apron following a
post-flight inspection.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Aviation
Security (AVSEC) and Bi-Courtney security services have both commenced an
investigation into this security breach at the private terminal.
The affected aircraft is already undergoing screening and
subsequently being prepared for service in accordance with United Nigeria
Airlines strict security and operating standards.
Following the development, the airline has announced there
will be rescheduling of some flights to accommodate the investigations even as
it apologized for the delay the procedure will cause passengers.
The incident of stowaway is not new in Nigeria’s aviation
industry even as there have been security breaches in the past.
In 2019, a stowaway found his way into a Lagos-Amsterdam
flight and his dead body was recovered underneath a KLM flight that landed in
Amsterdam.