Monday 12 March 2012

Passengers Stranded, Flights Delayed as Darkness Envelops Lagos Airport

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Crowds of passengers that massed at the entrance of central security search indicated that something was gravely wrong as one entered the international terminal of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos Sunday.
This, however, occurred on a day another power outage which lasted for several hours paralysed activities at the terminal.
The passengers who were supposed to have departed to their various destinations could not be checked by security operatives because the x-ray machines and body scanners were not working.
Airlines were having difficulty trying to check in passengers with limited power supply from auxiliary sources, including the use of torchlight.
Passengers arriving and departing the airport were thrown into unnecessary suffocation at the immigration areas, the check-in area and the airline counters.
THISDAY learnt that power supply to the airport had been irregular for over a week while the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) was yet to provide solution to the problem..
Airline staff who profiled the passengers had to switch on their torch lights and cell phones for them to be able to profile them, while the immigration officers, security agents, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and men of the Nigerian Customs Services (NCS) had to device ways to solve the problem.
However, power supply to the airport was restored around 7p.m. to the relief of the airlines staff, passengers and security operatives.
Despite the restoration of the power supply to the terminal, the industrial air conditioning systems attached to strategic places at the airport were not functioning.
Some of the passengers spoken with, decried their experiences at the airport, saying that despite being a hub, most of the facilities, which would have made it functional were still lacking.
They, however, challenged FAAN to put the facilities in place and save the country of embarrassment.

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