In what came to the public as a rare occurrence, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), has withdrawn permanently, the On-Duty card of two immigration officers attached to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport and subsequently banned them from operating at any Nigerian airports, for extorting money from a passenger.
A statement signed by the image maker of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mrs, Faithful A. Hope-Ivbaze, explained that the authority swung into action after the mother of the passenger extorted, tweeted the details of the matter on social media. According to her, the Nigeria Immigration Service assisted in the investigation, and it was discovered through the CCTV footages that the two officers actually extorted N8,000 from the said passenger travelling on a Lufthansa flight. They were made to refund the money before being disciplined.
According to the spokesperson, “Following a tweeted allegation on the 19th of February 2022 by the mother of a 14year old girl travelling on Lufthansa Airline that two officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service extorted the sum of eight thousand naira from her daughter, a team of FAAN Aviation Security officers were commissioned to investigate the allegation.
“Upon investigation, they found the allegation to be true, as the officers involved were identified with the help of footages on our CCTV facility, and the cooperation from the Nigerian Immigration Service. 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 Their On Duty Cards were also withdrawn permanently, and they have been banned from working in any Nigerian airport, to serve as deterrent to others.
“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.”, the statement reads.
