The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), has refuted the alleged theft of £400 from one Mr Olakunle Tayo Fapohunda, who claimed that some airport security officers made away with the said amount, while he was going through the scanning machine at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) recently.

In an official statement issued on Friday and signed by the General Manager, Corporate Affairs, FAAN, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, the Authority stated that they have thoroughly investigated the allegation but found it to be untrue.

FAAN insisted that none of the two officers accused touched the tray as clearly shown by their CCTV footage.

The statement read “With respect to the allegation by Mr. Olakunle Tayo Fapohunda, that two officials of Aviation Security connived, and pilfered the sum of £400 from his wallet while going through the scanning machine on Wednesday, December 22, 2021, enroute London Heathrow on a Virgin Atlantic flight, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) will like to inform you that we have thoroughly investigated the allegation but found it to be untrue, as none of the two officers touched the tray as clearly shown by our CCTV footage.”

FAAN concurred that the only person who touched the tray was a NAHCO staff member, who was immediately behind him, and only pushed the tray forward to create space for her bag to come out of the X Ray machine.

“We were able to clearly establish that throughout Mr Olakunle’s movement within the screening point, nobody removed anything from his tray” .

“While we appreciate this feedback and would like to express our appreciation to him for the same, we would like to state that the Aviation Security Corp is a disciplined Corp, that has consistently recovered and returned many items forgotten or lost by passengers over the years”.

“Although, we are mindful of the fact that it is not impossible to have a few bad eggs within the Corp, we will like to assure you that the Authority does not condone such acts of indiscipline, and we have conducted this investigation with utmost care and due diligence”.

FAAN further promised that they are open to making the contents of the CCTV footage available to Mr Olakunle in case he wants to see it.

While advising that we all should be careful with making public unsubstantiated allegations because such acts are capable of ruining the lives and careers of those involved, we will like to reassure our esteemed passengers that our airports are safe and secure, and our officers will continue to discharge their duties efficiently and professionally”, FAAN added.