There was confusion and apprehension at the Lagos airport on Friday morning when as a yet-to-be-identified man mounted a taxing Air Peace plane.

The man was later arrested by security operatives who were notified by the pilot of a private jet coming behind the Air Peace plane.

Airport sources could not immediately ascertain the reason for the man’s action.

Air Peace, however, said the man was a stowaway who thought the plane was heading overseas.

The airline in a statement said the suspect was being held by the industry regulator for further investigation.

The statement read in part: “This morning, at exactly 9:10 at the MMA1 Lagos, an Owerri – bound Air Peace aircraft was taxing towards the threshold for take-off, when a man, in his twenties, emerged from the bush along the runway and tried to gain access into the aircraft through the wheel-well.

“There was a private jet behind the aircraft. The pilot-in-command of the private jet informed the Air Peace pilot-in-command that a young man obviously in his twenties, was trying to force his way into the aircraft.

“The security wing of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria was alerted and the man was accosted and whisked away. He is currently in the regulator’s custody. When interrogated on why he took the action, the man stated that he thought the aircraft was headed overseas.”

The latest incident is happening barely six months after a suspected madman found his way to the Lagos airport and climbed a Port Harcourt-bound Azman Airlines plane. The mentally ill man was later identified as Usman Adamu from Republic of Niger.

The Police said the Nigerien could not speak or understand English Language.

The authorities said then that investigation was still ongoing to ascertain how Adamu gained access to the heavily restricted area at the airport.

They also promised to beef up security in order to ensure a repeat breach does not happen again. (New Telegraph)

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