Nigeria Airport Authority Ban Officials For Extorting 14-Year-Old Girl Following Outcry By Mom
Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has confirmed the extortion of a 14-year-old girl by its officials at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos State.
The authority also announced the withdrawal of On-Duty Card (ODC) of two officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) at Lagos airport.
The officers whose identities were not revealed were also barred from working at any Nigerian airport.
The latest development followed the conclusion of an investigation of the allegation of extortion against the officers.
Read Also: Mum Accuses Nigerian Immigration Officials Of Extorting 14-Year-Old Daughter Traveling To Canada
Recall that MDB reported that a woman had taken to Twitter to lament how her 14-year-old daughter travelling on Lufthansa Airline on February 19 was extorted, saying the sum of N8000 was collected from her.
The mother of the passenger, Imoteda Aladekomo had tweeted a complaint at FAAN on how “Immigration took all…money” from the 14-year-old before they let her go.
Aladekomo in February tweeted;
They took money …and didn’t even leave her with 1kobo or 1 thousand naira so she can buy food while she waits. Why are you stealing money from a child! And you took all of it and didn’t let her call her mother?.
Giving an update in a statement on Friday, Ag. General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Mrs Faithful A. Hope-Ivbaze, said following the allegation, a team of FAAN Aviation Security officers were commissioned to investigate the allegation.
Upon investigation, she revealed that they found the allegation to be true, as the officers involved were identified with the help of footage on the CCTV facility, and the cooperation from the Nigerian Immigration Service.
Hope-Ivbaze stated;
Consequently, the officers were made to refund the exact amount collected from the passenger. Their On Duty Cards were also withdrawn permanently, and they have been banned from working in any Nigerian airport, to serve as a deterrent to others.
We would like to commend the mother of the child, who has confirmed receipt of the money, for deeming it fit to escalate the case, and assisting us tremendously in the course of our investigation.
She stressed;
Also, we would like to express our appreciation to the Comptroller of Immigration, MMA and her team for her cooperation and support in addressing this issue. The Authority will continue to identify and sanction any airport official (including FAAN officials) found to be extorting passengers or perpetuating any act of illegality at our airports.
Reacting to the news, Imoteda took to Twitter to express delight at the latest development.
In the interest of full disclosure I did ask for proof of action taken, an official letter or something, and haven’t gotten that yet but I am very happy still with the fact that they even paid attention.
This is more than I’ve seen from most nigerian entities and give me hope!
— Ratchet Rayne (@Imoteda) March 18, 2022
