Stakeholders Fault Abuja Airport’s Planned Closure

Passengers and other stakeholders at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, have expressed displeasure over the plan by the Federal Government to temporaily close the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja for maintenance of the runway between February and March this year.
They alleged that such plan was done in bad faith and politically motivated to enable another airport in the north have facilities that can operate interantional routes.
Reacting to the plan, Allen Wokeh, a business executive while speaking to Airport correspondents at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa said that the Federal Government was not sincere in its plan to close the Abuja Airport and use the Kaduna Airport as alternative.
He said that the best thing to do was not to close the Abuja Airport and make the Kaduna Airport as an alternative airport because of the distance and the security implication in the area.
“There is no way the Kaduna Airport will be used as an alternative airport without upgrading some facilities and putting some gadgets of international standard in place.
“For me, this is a grand plan to upgrade the Kaduna Airport at this time. There is nothing wrong in allowing the Abuja Airport to remain open, while they go ahead to build another runway, as it is done in other countries, even if it will take five years”, he said.
Also reacting to the issue, a security operative at the Port Harcourt Airport, who does not want his name printed said that Kaduna State as at this moment is not peaceful for passengers to begin to move from Kaduna Airport to Abuja for such a long distance.
He said “How many security men will you put on the road from Kaduna to Abuja from morning to night that will guarantee safety of the people, given the activities of the Muslims Shiites.
According to him, these Muslim fantics who are not afraid of the military, and who went on to attack the army, even the generals can equally lay ambush and attack travellers.
On his part, Osita Azubuike, one of the passengers at the Port Harcourt International Airport, said that the Minna Airport is closer to Abuja than that of Kaduna, adding that Minna would have been an alterative place, if the Federal Government was sincere.

Corlins Walter