BEVERLY HILLS, CA, December 16, (THEWILL) – A case has been made for the reopening of the Maiduguri International Airport in the Borno State capital.
The airport was shut following the December 2 deadly attack on Maiduguri by Boko Haram insurgents who laid siege to the town for over six hours.
A section of the airport, the neighbouring Air Force Base and the Army Barrack were attacked during the Boko Haram siege.
Borno State governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, made the call on Monday during a meeting with the Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Mazi Nnamdi Udoh.
He pleaded that the airport be reopened to allow for easy access to the town and open up the state’s economy that is already plunged into disarray by over four years of insurgency. He noted that being a transit airspace, the Maiduguri airport is also critical to international travellers departing from other parts of Nigeria.
“The Airport is very critical to Borno people as one of its major links to rest of Nigeria and the world,” Shettima added , saying the State Government in collaboration with security agencies have “already taken measures to ensure enhanced security of the airport and its facilities as well as increased surveillance of roads to secure the lives of both land and air passengers.”
The governor also assured that the Government was ready to support NAMA to ensure successful flight operations at the airport, saying to ensure the resumption of flight to the state, he has also directed the Secretary to the State Government to undertake a courtesy visit on Arik Airline headquarters in Lagos to persuade the management to resume flight service to and from Maiduguri.
In his response, the NAMA boss assured the governor that repairs of some of the facilities destroyed at the airport would commence immediately to fast-track its reopening.
He restated the importance of the Maiduguri airport as a connecting route to other countries, saying this makes it a strategic airspace not only to Borno people but to the country at large.
It would be recalled that the governor was also at the Apapa Area 1 Command of the Nigeria Customs Services (NCS) in Lagos recently to facilitate the clearance of the 400 containers of agricultural equipment imported by the state.
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