Nigeria Content Online

The
Senate will today consider a motion to curb the abuses of Temporary
Flight Restriction (TFR) orders by Nigerian airport commandants and
security officials.

The motion, which
is sponsored by Osita Izunaso and 29 other senators, followed an
incident on 23 June in which an Arik Air Boeing 737 700 series 7.15 am
flight from Lagos to Abuja and six other flights were, with an advance
warning,

suspended in the air for a long time because a VIP was using the airport.

Dangerous practice

Mr. Izunaso said
the Arik flight and other aircraft were “not given advance notice of
any VIP movement in Abuja before take off as is the procedure in other
parts of the world.

“On that day, the
Arik plane was turned back into the sky after the pilot has pulled out
its tyres to land. Shortly after the pilot made back into the air, he
was given clearance to land; for the second and third time, the pilot
was ordered back to the sky after he pulled out tyres to touch down.

The senators
believe this practice is dangerous and endangers both the VIP and the
passengers on board the stranded aircraft because, most times, the
airport commandants and the security officials do not consider the fuel
level or other technical challenges of the aircraft being turned away.

A TFR is action
taken by the airport authorities to restrict flight operations for a
specified amount of airspace, on a temporary basis, in order to provide
protection for person(s) or property in the air or on the ground.

According to Mr.
Izunaso, 30 nautical miles for planned VIP flights and 10 nautical
miles for unscheduled flights restrictions is the global standard but
in Nigeria, the airport commandants and security officials, including
the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authorities flagrantly abuse the process.

Very Important Problems

Commenting on the
development, Sam Adurogboye, media head for the Nigerian Civil Aviation
Authority (NCAA), disclosed that the practice of shutting down the
country’s airspace during a VIP movement is mainly to protect the
president, adding that all countries, except the United States close
their airspaces whenever a dignitary is travelling.

Explaining who
actually is a VIP, Mr. Adurogboye disclosed that anyone flying on the
president’s official aircraft will be given the privileges meant for
the country’s number one citizen, noting that creating a separate
airspace, as is being practiced by the USA, is expensive.

“Whether rule or no
rule governing VIP movement, the simple truth is that the president
must be protected and nothing short of that,” Mr. Adurogboye said.
“Whoever travels on that aircraft carrying the registration code of the
president gets the full presidential benefits and that person at that
moment is a VIP.”

He added that all
aircraft in Nigeria that are about to takeoff, or those already
airborne, are expected to put their flight on hold, or divert their
flight by landing in the closest airport as soon as there is a VIP
movement order.

“America has a
private airspace specially assigned for the president and no one dares
use that airspace; however, the main difference is that other countries
of the world have varying times allocated during the period,” he said.
“Here in Nigeria it is 15 minutes before the VIP takeoff and 15 minutes
after landing, which is mainly to prevent any act of terrorism.

“NCAA’s advice to pilots already flying during such occasions is
that they land at any close by airport, for we cannot risk an aircraft
flying around the airspace at the same time with the president, though
this issue has been discussed in the past.”