FAAN: Lagos Airport Shut Temporarily Over Mangled Corpse On Runway

The Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, has been temporarily shut down after the mangled body of a dead man was found on Runway 18R.

Airport officials says the corpse was suddenly found on Runway 18R during a routine runway inspection by FAAN personnel.

During the temporary shutdown of the runway, international flights were prevented from landing and taking off from the airport’s international terminal.

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Among the flights that could not land due to the shutdown was an Ethiopian Airlines flight 3907, a Boeing 77F aircraft with registration number ETAVN, which was coming from Lome, Togo to Lagos, Nigeria.

According to NAN, the Police Public Relations Officer, Airport Command, DSP Olayinka Ojelade, in Ikeja says that the unidentified body might be that of one of the hoodlums who usually jump through the airport fence.

“l can confirm that a mangled, unidentified body was found at the International Airport runway on Thursday which was probably hit by taxing aircraft.

“We are still investigating the case of the dead body and once we are through, we will communicate to you our findings.

“The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the Nigeria Police Force yesterday evacuated the corpse from the runway,” he said.

However, an aviation security expert and former Military Commandant of the MMIA, Group Captain John Ojikutu (retd.), says there was a need to investigate how the unidentified man found his way into the sensitive area of the airport, describing the incident as a major security breach.