#Moodyshegsblog update: Stowaway gets scholarship, NCAA probes Arik pilots, FAAN

Aviation industry regulator, the
Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has
started probing the ArikAir pilots and
officials of the Federal Airports
Authority of Nigeria over alleged
security breaches that led to the arrest
of a 15-year-old stowaway, Daniel
Oikhena, at Lagos Airport on Saturday.
This is even as the boy on Wednesday
landed a scholarship to study free to
university level and fulfil his dream of
flying to the United States of America.
The pilot, The PUNCH learnt, might
lose his licence or be fined huge sum of
money if ongoing investigation by the
regulators found him guilty of not
aborting the flight for safety checks,
following the alleged passenger's
report of presence of a strange boy
some metres from the plane.
Already, the regulatory authority has
commenced full investigation into the
matter, the Director-General, NCAA,
Captain Fola Akinkuotu, disclosed to
our correspondent on Wednesday.
Although the NCAA boss declined to
specify the nature of penalty it would
impose on Arik Air, its pilot or the
Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria if
they were found guilty, he however
said, "If at the end of the day we
discover that somebody has not done
what it should do, then the appropriate
sections of the law will take its full
course."
Akinkuotu stressed that there were
penalties and sanctions for breaches in
the sector' and assured that the
regulatory agency would not shy away
from upholding safety and security
regulations in the aviation sector.
On the blames being traded by Arik
and FAAN, the NCAA boss said the
investigation would reveal whoever was
liable.
He said, "Arik might say that FAAN did
not provide adequate security, but
safety challenges are assuming new
trends everyday. The responsibility of
any flight lies with the operator. Arik
too has responsibility. It was reported
that a passenger raised an alarm. If
there is merit in that, it means there
was a possibility of doing something
about it. All these our investigation will
unravel."
The NCAA boss however said that the
agency, in the meantime, had put in
place measures to stop future re-
occurrence.
"Every aircraft that is departing will be
followed until take-off. FAAN security
will follow them. On our part, we have
to continue to monitor everything.
There will be greater monitoring at the
perimeter fence and access control
now."
Akinkuotu said that the issue of
stowaway was age-long and not
peculiar to Nigeria and the aviation
sector.
"Stowaway has been age-long since
the time when ship was invented; those
with criminal intent will also be looking
for ways to break the law," he said.
Aviation security expert and former
Military Commandant of the Murtala
Muhammed International Airport,
Group Captain John Ojikutu, retd, said
the Benin incident had shown that the
NCAA needed to audit and investigate
the Arik Air security programme and
the Benin Airport security programme.
Ojikutu said, "That boy could have
been a courier for terrorists. The NCAA
needs to find out how the boy knew
part of the aircraft and where to enter.
How are we sure somebody did not
assist him. If the Benin Airport access
control and perimeter fencing is not
porous, how did he get into the
aircraft."
Meanwhile, Oikhena has been offered a
scholarship by the De Raufs' Volunteer
Group, a group of supporters of Osun
State Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
The Director-General of the group,
Amitolu Shittu, in a statement on
Wednesday, said the scholarship was
offered to the stowaway to enable the
boy to achieve his target of travelling
through the air.