Bomb Scare At Airport In Lagos

There was a bomb scare Tuesday night at the arrival wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, as an unattended bag was believed to contain explosives.

Premium Times learnt that after the bag was unclaimed for hours at Terminal E arrival wing, airport officials alerted the bomb disposal unit of the Airport Command Police Command.

As the operatives arrived, the terminal was evacuated, throwing passengers and airport workers into severe panic.

The operatives then began to use sophisticated bomb detectors on the bag. Not convinced that the bag was harmless, the detectives brought out some equipments and tried to defuse the “bomb”, eliciting a loud bang which further sent passengers scampering for safety.

It later turned out that that the bag contained personal effects of a traveller, who apparently forgot to claim his luggage, a witness said.

The Head, Public Affairs, of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, Akin Olukunle, confirmed the incident.

He said airport security had to alert the bomb experts because they had instruction to be proactive by promptly reporting suspicious packages and luggages to relevant authorities.

“There is no cause for alarm,” Mr. Olukunle said. “We simply took precautions, and it turned out the bag was harmless.”

A few minutes after we spoke to him on the telephone, Mr. Olukunle sent a text message dismissing reports of explosion at the airport.

“It’s not true,” he said. “There was no bomb at MMA. The noise heard by people was from the equipment used by the police bomb squad to open an unattended bag. The bag was left by a passenger who arrived on a flight from the UK. The NCAA will issue a statement to this effect shortly.”