Finally, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has demolished the regional headquarters of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
This is to pave way for the expansion of the new Lagos Airport terminal slated for commissioning on Tuesday.
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With the demolition, at least N5 billion worth of investment and property had gone down the drain.
The building, which until mid-2020 was the headquarters of the bureau, was marked for demolition in order to accommodate the expansion of the new Chinese terminal, which had been under construction since 2013.
Also, other private hangars operating at the airport and government agencies including Dominion, Evergreen Apple Nigeria, Caverton, ExecuJet, office complex of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Federal Road Service Corps (FRSC) and the towing companies close to the AIB-N regional headquarters were also be affected by the exercise.
Daily Trust reports that the demolished regional headquarters of AIB-N housed its office complex, Command & Control Centre, office of investigators and Information Communication Technology (ICT) department.
Others are Training Centre, Mini Flight Safety Laboratory, which is used for downloading of flight recorders otherwise known as black boxes and investigators’ stores among others.
Most of the facilities at the AIB-N’s office in Lagos were installed less than four years ago by the current management led by Engr. Akin Olateru, the Commissioner, AIB.
Daily Trust reports that some staff members of the AIB-N had cried out when they were elected from office and asked to relocate to Abuja.
They claimed they were asked to relocate without relocation allowance or a befitting office for them in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Many of its staff who were forced to move to Abuja could not secure accommodation in the FCT due to paucity of funds while some have been sleeping in hotels in recent times.
FAAN had said the building and others would be used for apron extension of the new terminal.
