The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, on Thursday said the alleged breach of airport protocol by some dignitaries will be investigated.
Mr Sirika at the bi-weekly Presidential Task Force COVID-19 briefing said that people found guilty without immunity are likely to be imprisoned for not less than two months.
According to Mr Sirika, Zamfara state’s former governor, Abdulaziz Yari, Adamawa state governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, and thisday newspaper’s publisher, Nduka Obaigbena, were reported to have flouted airport protocols.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had condemned the conduct of Messrs Yari and Fintiri in a series of tweets posted on Wednesday and Thursday on its official Twitter handle, @FAAN_Official.
The tweets read:
2. with 8 others, and who flagrantly refused to observe the Airport Security and Public Health protocols as directed by the Federal Government through the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on #COVID19 by refusing to have his temperature checked, or being sanitised by the health….
— Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (@FAAN_Official) July 16, 2020
4. This irresponsible act endangers all other airport users, it is unacceptable, and as such it has also been duly escalated. FAAN hereby cautions all airport users, especially our esteemed VIPs , to please respect the Presidential directive by observing airport Security
— Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (@FAAN_Official) July 16, 2020
5. and Public Health travel protocols put in place to protect all air travellers against acts of unlawful interference, infection and the spread of the covid-19 pandemic.
— Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (@FAAN_Official) July 16, 2020
Mr Sirika said the ministry has swung into prompt investigations and if found true, the identified persons will be punished as stipulated by the regulations of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
“The ministry has received lots of inquiries regarding some unruly passengers.
“Those are being investigated and if found true, we will do the needful and if found untrue, we will definitely apologise to these individuals,” he said.
“I will like to go through the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority regulations. There is a definition of an unruly passenger. There are unruly passengers and we have a protocol to deal with them.
“In part 17 (97) i: any passenger who becomes unruly at the airport terminal building or onboard a particular aircraft commits an offence. So, first, it is an offence. Part 17(97) ii further defines unruly and I will just choose two out of the many definitions. Fighting or other disorderly conduct on board of an aircraft or in the terminal building which means in the vicinity of an airport or inside an aircraft.
“Unruly behavior also means disobedience of lawful instructions issued by the aircraft commander which is the captain, or flight crew, cabin crew, cabin attendants, check-in staff, screening staff or any lawful staff on lawful duty at the airport.
“So, if you refuse their instructions, you have become an unruly passenger and an unruly passenger according to table 29(51) requires the punishment of criminal referral for imprisonment for not less than two months,” he said.
He urged VIPs to conduct themselves in the manner they want to be identified.