Culled from PM News:
Edo
State Government, in mid-western Nigeria, has secured admission in one of the
state’s top secondary schools for 13-year-old Daniel Oikhena, who stowed away
in the wheel well of an Arik Aircraft from Benin to Lagos on Saturday August
24, this year. The State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole made this disclosure during
the visit of Mr George Uriesi, Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of
Nigeria (FAAN) and other FAAN Management team to him at the Government House,
Benin City, yesterday.
According to the Governor, “without meaning
to encourage anyone else, we decided to support him by sending him to one of
the top secondary schools in Edo State that is owned by the Government. The
reason for opting for a boarding school is that we think that there need to
closely watch him which his parents could not do.
“He is
an intelligent young man with uncommon challenges, but one that has a vision.
We had him examined by people who should know and the result confirmed that he
is normal”, Oshiomhole noted.
“This incident was probably the kind of
trigger that we needed to improve the facilities at our Airports. You are never
going to have all the money you need to do all you have to do. You should start
from somewhere”, he noted.
Oshiomhole added “it is also a security issue
that we do not have any runway security lights at the Benin Airport. It is a
security issue because a plane can take off and it is flying to Benin airspace
and it has mechanical faults and it cannot land.
“Politically, there could be an emergency in
Edo State and the President needed to visit and he cannot land at the airport
at night. You cannot spend the kind of money you are spending on remodeling and
the little one you have to do is to ice the cake and you have a complete
project. You should take this as something more urgent”, he added.
Earlier, Mr Uriesi said they were in Benin
City for ground assessment of the stowaway incident which has forced FAAN to
review and improve on its security arrangements.
He said: “we are responding to the incident
of the stowaway of that young boy a few weeks ago which was a big surprise to
all of us.
“We want to inform you that we have taken
strenuous measures to ensure that a similar incident does not happen. It was
serious and miraculous event, because prior to that day, I would have told you
it was a death sentence. We are trying to create an awareness that this is a
death sentence and young people should not attempt it at all. The likelihood of
survival is slim.”
On the security arrangements put in place to
check a recurrence, Uriesi said FAAN plans to acquire security vehicles on
take-off and arrival of planes and that security teams made up of the Air force
and airport security will now patrol the airports.
He said “one of the negative things we
inherited was that the airports were not fenced, or some of them were fenced at
the beginning and the fences have fallen apart.
“We have a plan to fence the airport and it
is an onerous task. The smallest airport perimeter fence in the country is
fourteen kilometers and the biggest one is about 33 kilometers. Altogether it
is about 500 kilometers. It is a huge capital outlay. We need to secure the
airports.
“We also wish to enlighten the youths that
they should not try it. This boy is a miracle boy”, he noted.
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