On the night of Thursday, 10 October 2024, I, alongside other aviation reporters from various media houses in Nigeria, visited the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Terminal 2, Lagos to cover the inaugural direct flight of Neos Airline to Nigeria.

The event was initially scheduled for 9:30 pm upon the aircraft’s arrival, but unplanned delays held it back. It eventually arrived around 11:30 pm, just 30 minutes before midnight.

I had decided to wait for the event because it was my first time staying that late at the airport, and I wanted to experience the nightlife at the facility. As everyone was going home, I felt I hadn’t had enough, and I decided to pass the night at the airport. Throughout the night, I walked around the terminal, and just when I decided to rest, I met a junior staff member of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria who offered me and another colleague a comfortable chair to rest on. My friend, Dare (not his real name), narrated various dramas he had witnessed at the airport, especially hilarious displays from passengers and airlines, particularly regarding missed flights.

On that day, my new friend and I sat opposite the Air Maroc desk. Staff members of the Morocco flag carrier, which had operated a direct flight to the country that night, were already packing up when a lady ran into the terminal, wanting to travel with the airline after the boarding gate had been shut.

Unfortunately, the ground handling officers for the airline refused her entry, harping that she had missed her flight. But in a dramatic turn of events, the passenger sat on the floor speaking pidgin English: “Otukpo people, I know una don follow me reach here o, but if una no leave me alone, na here I go die.” By this, the passenger was implying that her villagers had spiritually sabotaged her opportunity to travel abroad.

The lady removed her cap, beckoning to everyone she could see around to help beg the few airline staff members who were still within the terminal in the early hours of the morning. Just as the lady was shouting “Jesus!”, she was simultaneously shouting “Otukpo people!” repeatedly. After repeated attempts proved futile, the distressed woman turned on a security officer, demanding to know why he was laughing as she cried.

The officer ended up bearing the brunt of it that day, drawing even more laughter. It was both amusing and sad. I then approached the woman to ask what the issue was, and our conversation unfolded from there.

Me: Hi, calm down, please. What is the problem?

Passenger: Na my village people. I don dey find money for, like, two years because my sister said she can’t give me money to come meet her in Morocco. Now, wey I don get the money, they said I was late.

Me: Missing your flight does not invalidate your eventual travel. You will be rescheduled; just speak with the officials.

Passenger: They are not friendly; they even threatened to beat me up.

Me: Okay, let’s go to them.

There, the process of getting her on the next flight was discussed with the help of the officials, and that was the end of the issue.

Like this traveller, countless scenes play out daily at Nigeria’s airports, but the incidents at the country’s busiest hub, Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, are more frequent and of a different intensity.

For instance, on arrival at the facility, passengers will first face a military checkpoint, where minor arguments frequently trigger scenes, which often turn into shouting matches between the officers and travellers, particularly female passengers.

Head to the terminal entrance, especially Terminal 2. Seasoned travellers often walk straight in, but first-timers usually stop to ask for directions. At that stage, some fall into the hands of swindlers, who end up collecting money from them under one pretext or another.

A few feet from there, passengers place their luggage on a scanning machine that displays each bag’s contents on screens watched by security officers. Even then, Customs officials often insist on manual checks and, in some cases, still solicit money from travellers.

Grievances against Customs officers have reached a peak at the airport. One of the most astonishing episodes occurred recently when an officer demanded duty on clothes and perfume the passenger described as personal effects and asked that the payment be made into the officer’s personal new-generation bank account.

In many cases, attempts by security personnel to extort passengers result in deliberate delays, which often spiral into scenes of drama at the airport.

FAAN’s leadership has made repeated efforts over time to curb these practices, but corruption appears to have pushed back. The PUNCH learnt that as part of the measures, FAAN sought the intervention of the National Security Adviser, although the support appears to be stalled.

Just in November last year, following Senator Osita Izunaso’s outburst over what he described as a “national embarrassment” caused by touting and begging at Nigerian airports, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria rolled out a comprehensive set of measures to clean up operations and improve passenger experience across major terminals.

It detailed these plans in a document sighted by our correspondent titled “Position Document on Measures to Address Corrupt Practices and Enhance Passenger Experience at MMIA and GAT”, which was signed by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo.

The framework, developed after an emergency high-level meeting involving FAAN’s Managing Director, Olubunmi Kuku, and other heads of agencies working within the airport, out’ines “Operation Air Clean”, an initiative designed to eliminate corrupt practices, enhance transparency, and improve airport operations, particularly at Murtala Muhammed International Airport and the General Aviation Terminal in Lagos.

Obviously angry and displeased by the state of affairs, the Managing Director/Chief Executive of FAAN said in 2024 that the agency had concluded plans to establish magistrate courts across airports in the country to tackle extortion and touting at Nigerian airports. The FAAN boss identified the presence of touts and loitering by members of the public as a major challenge to making genuine airport users comfortable.

Despite these multifaceted efforts, touting has persisted and even intensified, stripping unsuspecting members of the public of their belongings. (The PUNCH)

Update news