Travel News
FAAN, Seymour commit to safety of Lagos Airport’s car park - THE GUARDIAN
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Seymour Aviation Limited have reassured travellers of safety and security of vehicles that are parked at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport’s (MMIA) car park in Lagos.
The two agencies, in different statements yesterday, acknowledged security breach at the fee-for-service facility and pledged to scale-up the safety programme going forward.
The Guardian had earlier reported cases of vandalisation of vehicles that were parked at the privately-run Seymour Multi-level Car Park facility. Though FAAN claimed to have reached out to one of the victims, the complainant denied receiving any entreaty.
General Manager, Corporate Affairs FAAN, Henrietta Yakubu, stated that the car park is safe for travellers and vehicles, “as additional security measures have been put in place to forestall the re-occurrence of such an act.”
Yakubu said: “The unfortunate incident, which has been thoroughly reviewed and addressed, is an isolated case in the history of the management of the facility. While we have reached out to the victim of the incident, we would like to assure our esteemed customers that the airport, as well as its parking facility is safe and secure,” she said.
The management of Seymour Aviation, the concessionaire that operates the facility, stated that the incident of vandalisation was “regrettable” and avoidable.
“We are also pained because, in over four years of our operation, this kind of security breach had not occurred. When the car owner reported this incident, we quickly played the CCTV and confirmed that the car (a Lexus 460 SUV) actually arrived with its two mirrors intact. The CCTV camera, however, could not pick the criminal, as the car was parked at a blindspot.
“We are immediately reviewing our surveillance system to forestall future occurrence and to ensure the comfort and convenience of users of the facility,” the statement read in part.
Seymour Aviation added that the ugly incident should not give room for “wrong insinuations” by factions “pushing their own agenda, including canvassing for people to continue to park their cars on the driveway into the terminal.”
“On our part, we are determined to continue every measure that will encourage people to park comfortably, conveniently and securely at the Seymour Multi-level park at MMIA.
“We would like to continue to operate at that level of integrity and safety for our users and security for their items.
Though our CCTV cameras are working perfectly (and that is why we were able to easily verify that the said SUV arrived with its mirrors intact) we are reviewing the entire surveillance system and introducing other measures to boost the confidence of our users.”