Stowaway gets scholarship, NCAA probes Arik pilots, FAAN

Aviation industry regulator, the Nigerian Civil
Aviation Authority has started probing the
ArikAir pilots and officials of the Federal
Airports Authority of Nigeria over alleged
security breaches that led to the arrest of a
15-year-old stowaway, Daniel Oikhena, at
Lagos Airport on Saturday.
This is even as the boy on Wednesday
landed a scholarship to study free to
university level and fulfil his dream of flying
to the United States of America.
The pilot, The PUNCH learnt, might lose his
licence or be fined huge sum of money if
ongoing investigation by the regulators
found him guilty of not aborting the flight
for safety checks, following the alleged
passenger's report of presence of a strange
boy some metres from the plane.
Already, the regulatory authority has
commenced full investigation into the
matter, the Director-General, NCAA, Captain
Fola Akinkuotu, disclosed to our
correspondent on Wednesday.
Although the NCAA boss declined to specify
the nature of penalty it would impose on
Arik Air, its pilot or the Federal Airport
Authority of Nigeria if they were found
guilty, he however said, "If at the end of the
day we discover that somebody has not
done what it should do, then the
appropriate sections of the law will take its
full course."
Akinkuotu stressed that there were
penalties and sanctions for breaches in the
sector' and assured that the regulatory
agency would not shy away from upholding
safety and security regulations in the
aviation sector.
On the blames being traded by Arik and
FAAN, the NCAA boss said the investigation
would reveal whoever was liable.
He said, "Arik might say that FAAN did not
provide adequate security, but safety
challenges are assuming new trends
everyday. The responsibility of any flight lies
with the operator. Arik too has
responsibility. It was reported that a
passenger raised an alarm. If there is merit
in that, it means there was a possibility of
doing something about it. All these our
investigation will unravel."
The NCAA boss however said that the
agency, in the meantime, had put in place
measures to stop future re-occurrence.
"Every aircraft that is departing will be
followed until take-off. FAAN security will
follow them. On our part, we have to
continue to monitor everything. There will
be greater monitoring at the perimeter
fence and access control now."
Akinkuotu said that the issue of stowaway
was age-long and not peculiar to Nigeria
and the aviation sector.
"Stowaway has been age-long since the
time when ship was invented; those with
criminal intent will also be looking for ways
to break the law," he said.
Aviation security expert and former Military
Commandant of the Murtala Muhammed
International Airport, Group Captain John
Ojikutu, retd, said the Benin incident had
shown that the NCAA needed to audit and
investigate the Arik Air security programme
and the Benin Airport security programme.
Ojikutu said, "That boy could have been a
courier for terrorists. The NCAA needs to
find out how the boy knew part of the
aircraft and where to enter. How are we
sure somebody did not assist him. If the
Benin Airport access control and perimeter
fencing is not porous, how did he get into
the aircraft."
Meanwhile, Oikhena has been offered a
scholarship by the De Raufs' Volunteer
Group, a group of supporters of Osun State
Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
The Director-General of the group, Amitolu
Shittu, in a statement on Wednesday, said
the scholarship was offered to the
stowaway to enable the boy to achieve his
target of travelling through the air.

Source: punch