Pandemonium as Murtala Mohammed Airport holds bomb drill

There was pandemonium at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport following a bomb drill on Saturday morning.

Sunday Punch gathered that passengers and airport users were seen running out of the terminal building over what they described as a bomb-scare.

Some security operatives had to evacuate passengers from the terminal for fear of a possible stampede as people scampered for safety.

However officials of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria and other security operatives were on ground to assure the passengers that the exercise was just routine.

Despite this, it took some time for the passengers to go back into the terminal with some almost missing their flights.

A Dubai-bound passenger, Mr. Igwe Timothy, who spoke to our correspondent shortly after the event said he almost changed his mind about getting on the flight.

He said, “I am just grateful that my flight was for 2.25pm, after everything became calm, if not I would probably have missed the flight.

“I heard a loud bang, and saw people running helter-skelter with some shouting ‘bomb o’, Boko Haram’ I had to grab my luggage and ran out too.

“It was later that we were informed that it was a simulation exercise, and a test to prepare in case of such an incident in future.”

For Miss. Bisi Adeyinka, a bureau d’change operator at the airport, she still ran, even though she had a prior information about the event on Friday.

“The truth is that we had a knowledge of the activity, because some of us were informed by the authority on Friday, but since I didn’t know exactly the form it would take, I ran with others when I heard the loud noise and saw people running,” she said.

In a chat with our correspondent, the General Manager, Corporate Affairs, FAAN, Mr. Yakubu Dati, described the exercise as a successful one, adding that there was no cause for alarm.

He said the exercise was conducted to measure the airport’s response procedures in the event of real bomb explosion at the terminal building.

He said, “Flight operations were not disrupted as a result of the exercise, and FAAN wishes to apologise to passengers and members of the public who were caught unawares, even though prior information was given earlier and was even published in some newspapers.

“FAAN remains committed to safety and security, and is carrying out this drill in fulfilment of NCAA requirements in with ICAO Standard and Recommended Practices.”