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28 March 2024

Stowaway lands safely after 45-minute flight

Published
By AFP

Nigerian aviation authorities are probing how a teenage boy managed to hide inside the undercarriage of a plane from the southern city of Benin and land in Lagos, officials said Sunday.

Airport security arrested the stowaway teenager on Saturday following an alarm by passengers who saw him emerge from the undercarriage of the 45-minute Arik flight from Benin, officials said.

"We have launched an investigation into the incident. This is a clear case of security breach," spokesman for the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Yakubu Dati told AFP.

He said private carrier Arik should be blamed for the incident because the airline failed to act when the boy was sighted on the tarmac before the plane left Benin.

Dati said the flight should have been aborted and the plane returned to the apron for check-up.

Arik however said in a statement that it was shocked by the incident, wondering "how the teenager beat the aviation security personnel at the Benin airport to get to the runaway."

"We are worried by the incessant security lapses at our airports. We are appealing to the management of FAAN to immediately address the problem," it added.

Officals said the boy identified as Daniel Ihekina had been detained and was undergoing interrogation.