Security has been beefed up at all major airports in Nigeria
following the interception of five cylinders containing explosives
by the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Bellview
Airlines security officers in Lagos on Saturday.
Nigerian Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode told reporters in
the nation's commercial capital Lagos on Sunday that the
unaccompanied luggage were being smuggled aboard a Lagos-Abuja
morning flight of Bellview Airlines.
He added that he had given the order for the security beef-up
and said a suspect had been arrested and handed over to the State
Security Service (SSS) to explain his intention.
The newly-appointed minister explained that the suspect said he
was sending the baggage on behalf of another person who went to
Abuja by road.
He said it was unclear whether the suspect intended to blow up
the aircraft or convey the explosives which weighed about five kg
to Abuja for another purpose.
"Whatever his purpose, he had declared that the explosives were
microphones when asked and only a forceful opening of the baggage
revealed that they were explosives," he stated.
Fani-Kayode wondered why the suspect lied about the contents,
but said the Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA) and all other
security agencies had been brought in to help unravel the real
mission.
He has also directed that all travelers should submit themselves
for security screening and cautioned that the screening should be
done with courtesy.
Fani-Kayode also said the investigations into the cause of the
Bellview Airline crash of Oct. 22, 2005 which killed all the 117
people aboard in Lisa, had re-opened.
Fani-Kayode said the report he had read so far about the crash
had many unanswered questions and the aborted attempt to smuggle
explosives aboard the plane on Saturday raised suspicion.
The newly-appointed minister also said he was working to get
presidential approval to invite experts from the National Transport
and Safety Board in the United States to help with the
investigations again.
He said that the NTSB input into the Bellview crash was not
forwarded to President Olusegun Obasanjo and there was need to
present all sides to it.
Fani-Kayode stated that only the report of the Accident
Investigation and Prevention Bureau was made available to
Obasanjoand said he would immediately restructure the bureau to
make it more efficient.
FAAN Managing Director Mohammed Yusuf said the organization
would bring in 30 new screening machines that were trapped at the
ports to beef up security.
Managing Director of Bellview Kayode Odukoya said the decision
to re-open the investigation into the cause of the Lisa crash was
welcome as sabotage could not be ruled out.
(Xinhua News Agency November 20, 2006)
