It’s wrong to make stowaway boy hero – NAAPE

National Association of Aircraft Pilots and
Engineers, NAAPE, has criticised the
award of scholarship to stowaway
teenager, Daniel Oikhena, by the
Governor Rauf Aregbesola Foundation.
The association contended , yesterday,
that it was wrong to make hero out of the
boy.
It will be recalled that on Saturday,
August 24, 2013, the teenager
successfully breached the security of the
Benin Airport, operated by Federal
Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, and
managed to stowaway at the wheel well of
an Arik aircraft on a flight from Benin to
Lagos.
Daniel Oikhena
The boy was apprehended when he came
out of the wheel well on landing in Lagos.
According to Bunmi Gindeh, Public
Relations Officer, NAAPE, the association
“seriously frowns at the effort by some
people to make a hero out of the
stowaway boy by publicly giving reward
to a boy that at best fell far short of
acceptable behaviour.
“While NAAPE does not want to stand in
the way of anyone’s fortune, we consider
that in this particular case, making such
gesture public gives an erroneous
impression which makes it a dis-service.
“We fear that such public gesture, even in
the name of charity, will only encourage
other kids, and even adults, to embark on
similar misadventure.”
The association said it was also
concerned that both FAAN and Arik had
been publicly trading blames over the
incident, when the two corporate bodies
were both aware of their responsibilities
to assist in the process of identification
and rectification of the problem, and in a
civilised manner.