FAAN Threatens Sanction against Airport Workers Extorting Passengers

Chinedu Eze

The Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr Kabir Mohammed, has threatened to sanction the agency personnel, other staff of government agencies and others who extort passengers.

He made this known during the one-day sensitisation programme on Airport Council International (ACI) Airport Service Quality (ASQ) initiative organised by the Directorate of Airport Operations and held at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA).

It is believed that many airport workers devise different ways to extort travellers, especially the international travellers.
Mohammed said that the Authority had stepped in to ensure  that passengers  that pass through  the airports  are not extorted  by staff and other  agencies of government that work at the airports  by engaging  the services of “mystery staff”  at the four international airports of the country.

He explained that the responsibility of the mystery staff was to take note of the activities of staff at the airports and report same to management.
He expressed displeasure at the poor reputation of Murtala Muhammed International Airport due to extortion of passengers and warned that anyone caught in such act this Yuletide season would face disciplinary consequences.

The FAAN boss said that travellers are discouraged from flying through the international terminal of the Lagos airport because of extortion.
He challenged representatives of all the government agencies that operate at the airport namely; Customs, Immigration, Quarantine, Police, and all others to be at their absolute best when carrying out their day-to-day activities.
Mohammed reminded everyone that there are active cameras everywhere and whosoever is caught doing anything that will bring the FAAN into disrepute would be sanctioned.

He also remarked that all the agencies that work at the airport are involved in the breach and said that FAAN was not going to tolerate the embarrassment anymore.
Mohammed also urged everyone to improve the reputation of the airport and the country at large by being courteous and respectful to the travelling public  this season.

He encouraged the spirit of collaboration among personnel of various agencies at the airport.
“We are one airport and if there’s any wrongdoing, people don’t bother to know which agency did the wrong. They only know the airport where they were wronged,” he maintained.
The ACI-ASQ sensitisation event was championed by the Directorate of Airport Operations headed by Capt Mukhtar Maye.

The event also had an interactive session where participants expressed their various concerns and also gave positive suggestions on how the image of the airport could be improved.