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Major General Chris Olukolade
The Defense Information Director, Major General Chris Olukolade, said on Monday that both grounding of Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s of Rivers State private jet at Kano airport and the subsequent banning of private aircrafts from the same airport, was purely for security reason.
Speaking to our Correspondent in a telephone interview, Gen. Olukolade said there was no political undertone in the entire action.
“They (military) don’t consult anybody. They just go ahead with their decision since it is about security.”
Mr. Olukolade, a Major-General, declined to state the nature of the security concerns.
But a source in the military stated that the directive would not be unconnected with Sunday’s crowning of Lamido Sanusi as the new Emir of Kano.
“After the Emir was appointed, there were lots of protests from the group supporting the late Emir’s son. The security agencies must have felt that certain actions need to be taken,” the source said.
Yakubu Dati, the spokesperson for the Nigerian aviation parastatals, said the military usually takes such decisions when there are security concerns.
“We as an authority, we have not banned any plane from landing in Kano. You know there is civil aviation and there is also military aviation which supersedes ours,” Mr. Dati said.
“They don’t consult anybody. They just go ahead with their decision since it is about security,” he added.
The news of the ban came after Umaru Al-Makura, the Nasarawa State Governor, who was flying into the Kano airport from Makurdi on Monday morning, was denied clearance to land by the airport commander.
On Sunday, several party chiefs from both the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, and the All Progressives Congress, APC, flew into Kano prior to the appointment of the new Emir.
The Federal Government has once again impounded the private jet of the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi. Reports say the Nigerian aviation authority was ordered to prevent the jet carrying Governor Rotimi Amaechi from leaving the Kano International Airport.
It was gathered that the jet was grounded after security agencies decided that Amaechi, former Lagos Governor, Bola Tinubu, ex-governor of Kwara State, Bukola Saraki, former PDP National Chairman, Kawu Baraje, and a former governor of Gombe State and now Senator, Danjuma Goje were instrumental to pressurizing Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano to ensure that ousted CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi emerged as the new Emir of Kano.
The Bombardier aircraft that was recently released to the governor could not leave the airport as aviation agencies claimed there was an ‘order from above’ to stop night flights out of the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano.
It was learnt that the National Airspace Management Authority, NAMA, operatives refused to give clearance to the jet to take off, leaving the governor and his aides with no other option than to travel by road out of Kano.
Governor Amaechi reportedly left Kano around 8 pm Nigerian time by road. The Kano State commissioner for State Affairs, Aminu Abdusalam, who was responsible for hosting the guests confirmed the development in a short speech in Kano. In the meantime, this development has been confirmed by the Rivers State Commissioner for Information, Ibim Semenitari. The seizure of Ameachi’s jets was also followed by a riot in Kano against Sanusi’s choice as Emir. This is the second time Governor Amaechi’s jet would be impounded by President Jonathan’s government. On April 26 2013, the governor and his entourage were stranded for about two hours at the Akure Airport, Ondo State, on the allegations that the jet violated aviation procedures before take-off.
The jet was later seized by the Nigerian government until it was released last week.
