Incredible!! Teenager pulls off a daring stunt in Nigerian airport.

Boy flies Arik Air from Benin to Lagos, hiding
in tyre hole.

A teenager beat airline and airport security at the
Benin Airport and sneaked into the tyre
compartment of a Lagos-bound Arik plane,
where he flew safely to the Murtala Muhammed
Airport, Lagos, on Saturday morning.

There was, however, pandemonium at the airside
of the Lagos airport when passengers
disembarking from the aircraft saw the teenager
as he emerged from the undercarriage (aircraft
tyre hole) to join fellow travellers.

The adolescent stowaway, identified as Daniel
Ihekina, was immediately arrested by security
officials at the airport.
The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria and Arik
Air confirmed the incident.
Although the General Manager, Corporate
Communications, FAAN, Mr. Yakubu Dati, said full
and urgent investigation had commenced into
the mysterious circumstances that led to the
huge breach in airport and airline security, the
situation has continued to beat the imagination
of aviation authorities in the country.
The situation, which has become a major source
of worry among the authorities, has also led to a
blame game between FAAN and Arik.
FAAN, in a statement on Saturday, said it held
“Arik Air liable for the circumstances leading to
the stowaway of a teenage boy on its aircraft at
the Benin Airport.”
In a statement signed by Dati, FAAN, said, “Arik
Air acted with impunity by not stopping the
aircraft to check when the crew and ground
personnel’s attention was drawn to an
abnormality on the tarmac.”
According to the FAAN spokesman, the
procedure for such infraction is for the crew to
abort the flight and return to the apron for
check-up.

He blamed the airline for the alleged impunity,
warning that the airport authority would not
tolerate such infraction from any operator.

He said, “This is arrant display of impunity. The
aircraft should not have taxied further, but
return to the apron until a proper check is
carried out on all parts of the aircraft. FAAN will
not tolerate such impunity henceforth from Arik
or any airline. Any violation would be met with
applicable sanctions.
Dati, however, said the teenager was already
giving useful information to unravel this
‘misnomer.’

In a swift reaction, Arik, in a statement, blamed
FAAN for the huge breach in security, noting that
the incessant cases of security breaches at the
nation’s airport had become a major source of
concern to the airline.

The statement quoted Arik’s Managing Director,
Mr. Chris Ndulue, as saying, “We are worried by
the incessant security lapses at our airports.  We
are appealing to the management of FAAN to
immediately address the problem.
“The management of Arik Air has expressed
shock over the incident, wondering how the
teenager beat the aviation security personnel at
the Benin Airport to get to the runway.”
Arik said its pilot had reported to the control
tower the presence of a strange boy in the bush
about 200 – 300 metres at the end of runway
before leaving the airport.
Ndulue said the control tower had told its pilot
that they were sending security men to the place
to arrest the boy.
Ndulue, however, said, “As the captain was
making his final turn, preparatory for take-off, a
cabin crew called his attention to the information
by some of the passengers that they saw a boy
running towards the airplane. The First Officer
confirmed that they had observed it earlier and
alerted the control tower which responded that
they had sent the patrol team to arrest the boy.
The captain again reported to the control tower
and was informed that the situation was under
control and that he had been cleared for take-off.
“On arrival at the domestic wing of MMA, Lagos,
a teenage boy, who apparently had sneaked into
the aircraft main wheel well jumped out and was
arrested by Arik personnel and handed over to
FAAN security.”
The Arik aircraft with registration number, 5N-
MJG Flight 44, which left the Benin Airport around
9am for Lagos, was said to have on board top
officials of the Edo State Government.

A passenger aboard the flight, who spoke
with Sunday Punch on the telephone said, “We
felt the signs in Benin when the plane was about
leaving and as it was moving slowly, we heard a
loud noise as if the tyre crushed somebody on
the ground and we all started shouting. It means
the boy was already inside that tyre compartment
before we left. We left for Lagos, but when we
landed at Lagos Airport, the boy came out from
the tyre hole, everybody started shouting.
“But speaking seriously, this shows that we have
a serious problem as regards securing our
airports. This is a serious security breach. If that
boy was carrying bomb, it means he would have
succeeded in blowing up the plane. How can
somebody be in an aircraft without being
detected; we are in trouble in this country.”

Though no official at the Benin Airport
volunteered comment on the issue, it was
gathered that the teenager may have gained
entrance into the airport from the Akenzua road
axis, where perimeter fencing is non-existent at
different points.
In 2010, a desperate young Nigerian, Emeka
Okechukwu Okeke, who tried to smuggle himself
to the United States, died in the tyre
compartment of a Delta Airlines aircraft and was
discovered on arrival in New York.
Okeke, sneaked into the place at Lagos airport.

In 2012, the dead body of a young Nigerian man
was also discovered in the wheel well, the
undercarriage compartment of a domestic
airline, after it returned from South Africa.

My words: who truly is to be blamed?

See the teenager pix after the cut.