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July 13, 2023
The memo was signed by the Managing Director of FAAN, Kabir Yusuf Mohammed, who added that: “You are required to ensure handover and takeover on or before Friday 14th July 2023.”
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has removed Felix Akinbinu as the Regional General Manager for the Southwest at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos.
Two others – Mrs Uguama Cecelia and Mr Ayodele Sunday – were also redeployed along with Akinbinu.
An internal memo with Ref: FAAN/HQ/MD/19A/Vol.15/34 and dated July 12, 2023, disclosed the new postings of the three airport workers.
According to the memo, Akinbinu was moved to Regional Airport Services, Cecelia was moved from Regional Airport Services to Airfield Services while Sunday was moved from Airfield Services to become the Regional General Manager for the Southwest.
The memo was signed by the Managing Director of FAAN, Kabir Yusuf Mohammed, who added that: “You are required to ensure handover and takeover on or before Friday 14th July 2023.”
This comes after the stealing of the runway lighting system at the airport which has caused international embarrassment for the country.
The lighting which was installed in November 2022 enabled planes to use the runway at night.
The lighting system was stolen in May, weeks after rehabilitation work started on the runway, causing the diversion of international flights to the domestic runway known as Runway 18L.
SaharaReporters had reported that the stolen lighting system on the domestic runway 18 Runway/36Left of the airport was reinstalled about eight months ago.
FAAN had launched an investigation into the theft. Meanwhile, a source had told SaharaReporters that the criminals took advantage of the fact that the runway had been closed for months for maintenance to steal the lighting system.
SaharaReporters had also reported that the failure by the FAAN management led by its Managing Director, Kabir Yusuf Mohammed, to provide vehicles for patrols, and deploy officers from moribund airports to beef up security, among others contributed to the lapses and the theft.
According to the source, it was a disaster waiting to happen considering the shoddy management of the airport under Mohammed.
“The FAAN MD had been looking for ways to rid of Akinbinu before this incident so he has used this opportunity to do that. In reality, those of us at the airport know that they are not doing anything to address what happened or prevent a future occurrence. This is just an opportunity to put their own people where they want.
“It’s been four weeks since the lighting system was stolen but nothing has been done to prevent it from happening again. All the recommendations made in the past have been ignored.
“The major issue here is that the FAAN MD is yet to provide vehicles for patrols, deploy officers from moribund airports to beef up security, fix the issues raised regarding perimeter fence and others.
“There has been no attempt whatsoever to address any of the issues by the MD or the management,” the source had said.
Sources had also blamed a "syndicate" of workers at the airport along with "accomplices from outside" for a series of thefts at the airport.
A source had told SaharaReporters that Mohammed, a ‘surrogate’ of former aviation minister, Hadi Sirika who became MD of FAAN exactly a week before the exit of Sirika as the minister, had been plotting to maintain his position as FAAN MD and Akinbinu because of his perceived closeness to the presidency.
"This decision comes in light of the recent incident involving stolen airfield lighting. It is believed that the MD, who has been plotting to maintain his position, views Mr. Akinbinu Felix as a significant competitor due to his close ties with the presidency.
"Mr. Akinbinu had only been in office for two months at Murtala Muhammed International Airport before the incident occurred," the source had said.
SaharaReporters had also reported that Mohammed suspended some members of staff, the head of security and the head of fire departments at FAAN following the incident.
This event, which caused significant frustration amongst FAAN and sector insiders, highlights the airport’s security vulnerabilities.
The thieves managed to remove substantial components undetected, which has been attributed to potential internal sabotage and the dense surrounding forest, which offers ample cover.
It’s been noted that this is not the first theft at the Lagos airport. Prior incidents, including the theft of navigational equipment by workers of a FAAN sister agency, point to a systemic issue with security breaches.
FAAN staff members, who spoke to SaharaReporters on condition of anonymity, revealed that the Lagos airport was grossly understaffed even though the former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, employed close to 1,500 staff within his tenure.
The minister had posted less than 10 per cent of the staff to the Lagos airport.
One of the sources had blamed the management of the airport for the stealing, adding that security personnel had advised that the systems should be moved to a more secure place pending installation but they refused. He noted that theft was still going on, adding that people entered the perimeter almost every day.
"The minister throughout his stay, before he left, employed close to 1,500 (altogether) fire and security staff. He brought less than 10% to Lagos.
"And, in actual fact, the recruitment was done for Lagos alone for security. But when they did this recruitment, they will take them, bring them from the North, and take them to moribund airports that are not functional.
"I am talking about manpower now. Lagos is heavily short-staffed. Even after the construction of the second terminal, they refused to recruit for the airport and neither were staff from non-active airports brought to Lagos. But they want the security to do magic.
"Two, there are no functional security vehicles. At the time they came for inspection, there was only one functional patrol vehicle.
"These patrol vehicles are supposed to also escort aircraft, and as the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Aviation came for inspection, there was only one fictional patrol vehicle. These are the requests security has made over time.
"As we speak, the security arm works for over 12 hours in Lagos because of a shortage of manpower. We work for over 12 hours with the promise that we will be paid for working for those hours. The management has refused to pay them. But the management keeps spending money on elephant projects. If you ask them how much they spend on cutting grass at the airport, you will be shocked.
"FAAN should be challenged to publish how much they use to cut grass in a year. And those grasses are most times not properly cut. There is no single perimeter fence that is not covered with bush.
"The delimitation at the airside of the airport is appalling.
“It is obvious that FAAN management had to suspend the suspended officers to cover their inadequacies and their tracks.”
Sources told SaharaReporters that the MMA had urged the FAAN to clear vegetation along the perimeter stretches from the Diplomatic Carpark to the NAHCO Complex for a clear view but they did not heed the recommendation.
It was learnt that the management recommended repairing and rebuilding dilapidated and collapsed portions of the perimeter fence to the standard height with anti-climbing wire topping.
“Also, this was ignored,” one of the sources told SaharaReporters.
“FAAN was also asked to reinforce drainage canals at Cement and Orisumbare with burglar-proof materials but as usual, nothing was done,” one of the sources said.
“The recommendations include dismantling the make-shift bridge at the Ajao axis and reconstructing the drainage canal but to date, they were not attended to.”
SaharaReporters gathered that in one of the memos to the management, the authorities were advised to reinforce openings at the Apron drainage canal and airside/landside boundary at Gate 9 with burglar-proof materials.
“One of the recommendations was that adequate attention should be given to vegetation control along the perimeter road and that holes in the perimeter fence should be blocked but nothing was done. They were also advised to apprehend those responsible for creating those problems, but that was also ignored.
“It was advised that they should replace missing metal rail protectors at Ejigbo Canal to enforce watertight security at the airport but nothing was done,” one of the sources had said.
A source close to the day-to-day running of the airport told SaharaReporters categorically that had the authorities heeded recommendations captured in several memos from different departments, "the issue of theft wouldn't have arisen or become a topic of discussion today".
Efforts made by SaharaReporters to speak to the Managing Director of FAAN, Mohammed, were unsuccessful as he did not answer his calls or reply to a text message sent to him.
However, when the FAAN spokesperson, Mrs. Faithful Avokerie Hope-Ivbaze, was also contacted on the telephone, she asked our reporter to send her a text message.
She had yet to reply to the text message at the time of filing this report.