Capt.Hamisu Yadudu

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Willful disregard to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria(FAAN) and rule of law  were responsible for the demolition of thirteen houses at Ajao Estate in Lagos.

They were illegally constructed and left standing in the positions that are clearly very dangerous to flight operations.

According to the Managing Director of the Federal Airports of Nigeria,Capt.Hamisu Yadudu, the  illegal owners may have lost money, but the Authority had saved lives.

To further protect the area from land speculators,Yadudu said FAAN is going to quickly re-erect and protect the fencing and lastly, we have procured a radar surveillance patrol system, which is automatic and zooms around 360 degrees with a radius of about 8km.

“This  means it goes beyond the airport itself. It can spot anything beyond the airport. We spent about three years processing it and right now, it is on the high sea for installation at Lagos and Abuja airports. If it detects any image, even a rabbit it will focus on it.”

“We also bought a mobile rationale video for that purpose. We have the automatic and the manual patrols. They are very effective for the people residing in the area. What went on is not for lack of patrol, but for clear willful disregard to the laws. It has always been protected”,he adde.

On why it took so long before taking this measures ,he explained:”People are not listening. They kept on building. Now, we have a bigger reason – the recertification of the airport. The international community knows it is a violation of safety. When we got the first one, these factors were among the issues they raised and they gave us time to remedy it before they return for recertification.”

“ We told them to give us one year to address it, but it took us four years to achieve. So, it took so long because we were briefing the residents on development. This is something that has been happening over the past 30 years. For the time that it happened, we were not there, but I can’t answer that.”

In addition,he said,the Authorities  were forced to take this action,  there is the need for us to protect the airport for recertification.

FAAN will continue to do oversight, monitor and carry out surveillance of the place in conjunction with the other residents of the area.