The
Airport Command of the Nigeria Police Force has arrested three teenagers for
allegedly attempting to illegally board some international flights in
Lagos.
Commissioner
of Police for the command, Salahu Waheed, said the suspects, Lateef Popoola, 13;
Amadi Joshua, 14; and Ukpabio Onyedikachi, 14, were arrested at different times
at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja.
Read more after the cut
Waheed,
while handing over the suspects to their mothers, said there was a need for
their respective state governments to rehabilitate them like the Edo State
Government did with teenage stowaway, Daniel Ihekina, who was arrested on August
24, 2013 after sneaking into the tyre compartment of a Lagos-bound Arik
plane.
He
said, “These boys were found at different times at Murtala Muhammed
International Airport, Lagos. Their aim was to get into any plane and travel out
of Nigeria.
“I
decided to hand them over to their parents so they will be well taken care of
and stop dwelling on the fantasy that you can just come into the airport, enter
a plane and travel.
“Their state governments should try to rehabilitate them just like Edo State did for the stowaway in Benin.
“Lateef Popoola is from Ogun State; Amadi Joshua is from Ebonyi while Ukpabio Onyedikachi is from Abia State.
“The airport is not a place that you can just come into and travel. There are formalities. We don’t want to see these children here again.”
The
teenagers, who spoke to PUNCH Metro, said they had been nursing the idea
of travelling abroad, adding that they were not ready to execute their plans
yet.
Lateef
said he went to the tarmac to observe how aeroplanes take off and land.
He
said he was able to gain access to the runaway by sneaking into an airport apron
bus, but was arrested shortly after alighting.
He
said, “I am not in school, I dropped out in Primary three. I was arrested last
week Wednesday. I actually wanted to travel but I have yet to decided where I
will go. So, I just went to the tarmac to see the aeroplanes.”
Lateef’s
grandmother, Adunni, said she had no idea that her grandson was nursing the idea
of travelling out of the country. She said she had been responsible for his
upkeep since his mother abandoned him at infancy.
“I did not know that he wanted to travel. I just did not see him last week and I started looking for him all over the place. It was on Saturday that I finally found out that he had been arrested,” she said.
Onyedikachi
and Joshua were said to have been arrested after asking some security agents
where Malaysia flights were boarding.
After
being questioned, the boys, who were both in SS1, said they had no travel
documents and were immediately arrested.
Police
said Onyedikachi’s brother was in Malaysia and it was possible that the teenager
wanted to travel out to see his brother.
Onyedikachi,
however said, “We were at the departure area of the airport. We did not attempt
to travel out. We were just loitering and wanted to see the aeroplanes. We did
not want to travel out on that day.”
Onyedikachi’s
mother berated her son for his escapade. She said she had warned him and Joshua
to be well behaved at all times.
She
said, “I had no knowledge of what they did. Onyedikachi is well taken care of
and is not suffering. I don’t know what pushed him to do
this.”
Read more: http://omoooduarere.blogspot.com/2013/09/police-nab-three-teenage-stowaways-at.html#ixzz2gTSlwt7d
No comments:
Post a Comment