The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) refuted the claim by Mr. Olakunle Tayo Fapohunde, a passenger whose £400 got missing that the Aviation Security (AVSEC) personnel stationed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), removed the amount from his baggage.
Mr. Fapohunde who was enroute London Heathrow on a Virgin Atlantic flight alleged that aviation security personnel of the airport authority had pilfered his baggage removing the sum of £400 from it.
According to a press release by General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Henrietta Yakubu, the authority had done its due diligence by going through the CCTV footage at the airport and discovered that at no point in time did the AVSEC personnel came in contact with the baggage of the passenger.
She said: “With respect to the allegation by Mr. Olakunle Tayo Fapohunda, that two officials of Aviation Security connived, and pilfered the sum of £400 from his wallet while going through the scanning machine on Wednesday, December 22, 2021,enroute London Heathrow on a Virgin Atlantic flight, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) will like to inform you that we have thoroughly investigated the allegation but found it to be untrue, as none of the two officers touched the tray as clearly shown by our CCTV footage.
“The only person who touched the tray was a NAHCO staff, that was immediately behind him, and only pushed the tray forward to create space for his bag to come out of the X-Ray machine. We were able to clearly establish that throughout Mr. Olakunle’s movement within the screening point, nobody removed anything from his tray.
“While we appreciate this feedback and will like to express our appreciation to him for same, we will like to state that the Aviation Security Corp is a disciplined Corp, that has consistently recovered and returned many items forgotten or lost by passengers over the years.
“Although, we are mindful of the fact that it is not impossible to have a few bad eggs within the Corp, we will like to assure you that the Authority does not condone such acts of indiscipline, and we have conducted this investigation with utmost care and due diligence.
“We are open to making the contents of the CCTV footage available to Mr. Olakunle in case he wants to see it.
“Finally, while advising that we all should be careful with making public unsubstantiated allegations because such acts are capable of ruining the lives and careers of those involved, we will like to reassure our esteemed passengers that our airports are safe and secure, and our officers will continue to discharge their duties efficiently and professionally.”
