Passengers’ Extortion At Airports: FAAN Indicts All Agencies, Moves To Stop It
The Managing Director, Chief Executive of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Kabir Yusuf Mohammed says FAAN has stepped up her game at ensuring that passengers that pass through her 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 in Nigeria, stating that “all the agencies that work at the airport are involved in this breach.”
He said FAAN was not going to tolerate this embarrassment any further and that the responsibility of these mystery staff is to take note of the activities of staff at the airports and report same to management.
A statement from FAAN says Mohammed made this disclosure during the One-day sensitization programme on ACI Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Initiative organized by the Directorate of Airport Operations at the Conference room of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMA) recently.
In his keynote address, 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 will face disciplinary consequences. He said that travellers have been discouraged from flying through the international terminal of the Lagos airport because of extortion.
Mohammed further 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 . He reminded everyone that there are active cameras everywhere and whosoever is caught doing anything that will bring FAAN into disrepute would be sanctioned.
He concluded by encouraging everyone to improve the reputation of the airport and the country at large by being courteous and respectful to the travelling public at this season and encouraged the spirit of collaboration, noting that “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.”
The ACI ASQ sensitization event was championed by the Directorate of Airport Operations headed by Capt. Mukhtar Yusuf Muye. 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.
Present at the occasion were top management staff of FAAN, other government agencies and concessionaires operating within the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
