Dare-devil burglars are certainly at work in Lagos airports. The private jet conveying two top Nigerian musical artists, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, aka Wizkid, and Tiwa Savage from Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, was reportedly robbed last Tuesday night at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, while taxiing on the runway.
Sources at the airport informed reporters that the aircraft, a Bombardier Challenger 605 jet with registration number T7-A00, arrived Lagos at about 8:33p.m and was slowly taxiing to the arrival hangar when the cargo compartment was burgled.
Reports said the jet slowed to allow an Ethiopia Airlines cargo plane with registration number ET-ARH to push back for takeoff. “The pilot of the business jet, Captain Cloud Cote, noticed the cargo door had been opened by burglars and promptly notified security officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, but the burglars had disappeared before FAAN officials arrived.
The source stated that as Tiwa Savage and Wizkid arrived at Quits Aviation Centre, a private jet hangar, the pilot discovered that two of their bags had been stolen by the airport bandits.
It was further gathered that the burglary was similar to the one that happened a fortnight ago when a business jet from Istanbul that arrived the Lagos airport to pick a passenger was also attacked on the same taxiway of the Lagos airport.
It was learnt that many aircraft that arrive and take off from the Lagos airport are not escorted as FAAN has only one escort vehicle for arriving and departing aircraft for the entire airport which handles over 200 flights daily.
An unnamed top Security Officer of the MMIA told reporters that he was disturbed when he first heard of the incident and doubted the possibility of it happening at the Runway 18L where the incident actually happened. “I was disturbed when I read the report because I don’t see that happening at Runway 18L where the aircraft taxied from to the EAN facility. If it is Runway 19R one could say that somebody can hide there because that area is bushy. So it will be difficult for anybody to come to that part of the runway because Caverton Helicopters is building a facility there, so the area is busy and nobody can get there without being seen,” he said.
