The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has set up an inter – agency panel to identify the immediate and remote causes of the daylight inferno that razed down parts of its headquarters at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos on Tuesday.
The Managing Director of the Agency, Engr. Saleh Dunoma said the management of the authority, after an emergency meeting, decided to constitute the panel comprising the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Department of State Security (DSS), Aviation Security (AVSEC) department, Safety Department, Fire Department while the Legal Department of FAAN would serve as secretary of
the panel.
The panel was given two weeks to submit its report, the MD disclosed, adding that the investigation would not affect that of the police.
The fire incident came almost one and half years after the Transport Minister, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi advocated for a befitting headquarters for FAAN.
Three departments- Audit, Commercial and part of Public Affairs, were affected by the inferno which paralyzed activities at the organization.
The impact of the fire which started around 9:00 a.m would have been more if not for the intervention of the agency’s firefighting unit supported by the Lagos State Fire Service Department who put out the fire at around 10.
The Airport CP said the command had commenced investigation of the incident.
He said, "This morning at about 9:00 am, my policemen on patrol observed that smoke was bellowing from those buildings. Efforts were mobilized to quell the inferno. I was here when the firefighters arrived well on time and they were able to put out the fire on time. You can see that the building got burnt partly, it was due to the efforts of the fire men otherwise the whole building would have been razed down".
The incident caused huge traffic snarls along the airport road forcing some travellers to take motorcycles in order not to miss their flights.
The FAAN MD who briefed newsmen said arrangement was ongoing to provide temporary offices for the departments affected by the incident to ensure that operations at the agency go on smoothly.
He apologized to airline passengers for the inconvenience caused by the incident.
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