Senate has ordered the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) and other relevant agencies to carry out a full scale investigation into the incident at the Margaret Ekpo International Airport Calabar when a motorist rammed into an Arik aircraft about to take-off for Abuja.
Chairman Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Ayim Udeh who handed down the order on Sunday said his committee is deeply worried over the matter, which he said has further exposed the lapses in the security arrangements at our airports.
A motorist who appeared insane had last Wednesday broke through the two security gates of the Nigeria Air Force section of the airport at full speed and rammed into the Abuja bound plane missing the engine by some inches.
In a statement made available to THEWILL on Sunday, the Committee expressed surprise at the circumstances of the incident adding that it was shocked that security at the airport could be that porous.
The panel which noted that the breach has raised the question on the need to review the co-existence of commercial airports and Air Force Bases across the country, charged the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN and other relevant security agencies to take a critical look at the issue of effective security and safety at our airports.
It also directed the agencies to put in place structures and efficient machinery to check unnecessary incursion of unwanted persons at the tarmac and indeed, the entire airport environment.
However to ensure that such incident does not occur again in any airport in the country, the committee charged the AIB to carry out thorough investigation and make the result of their investigation public.
The driver of the vehicle who appeared to be in his mid-thirties after his arrest was heard saying in a local dialect that he was fighting a holy war against evil persons in the country demanding to see President Umaru Yar’Adua and Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke.
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