Abuja — The Minister of Aviation Mr. Babatunde Omotoba has ordered the immediate suspension of six officials of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) for non-performance.

The names of some of the officials asked to proceed on indefinite suspension include, Mr. Abdulai Buba Chekene, the Terminal Manager of the Airport and Mohammed Tijani Zubair, Head of Department of Water, as well as four other senior managmenent staff.

A statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Minister, Mr. Yemi Nelson said the action was taken as a result of some lapses at the Murtala Muhammed Inter-national Airport, Lagos.

"The indefinite suspension was as a result of lapses he (the Minister) observered at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport on his arrival from an overseas trip contrary to what he was told before he left the country," he said.

While explaining the reason for the disciplinary measure to newsmen yesterday, the Minister said the affected officials misled him on the state of the facilities at the airport, especially with regards to the airconditioning system at the arrival hall of the airport.

Ironically, the Minister said he was coming back from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Ministerial Meeting where he had secured a prestigious place for Nigeria as the Secretariat of Banjul Accord Group Aviation Safety Oversight Organization (BAGASOO), when he discovered the non-functioning system.

Omotoba said he found to his utter disbelieve that the arrival hall of the airport was as hot as ever, contrary to the officers' claim that it has been fixed and is now in very good working condition .

The Minister said he had also directed that some people in the Water Department be suspended because of faulty equipment that were not repaired.

"I ordered the suspension on my way back from the ICAO meeting in Canada basically because, I found out that what I met on ground was different from what they told me. We have made so much effort at the Lagos international airport to ensure that arriving passengers are comfortable and to see that the aircondition in the arrival hall is fully. And I got information from FAAN that the place is very cool and okay now. So when I was coming back from Canada I decided to check it and I found six units of the airconditioning system are not working and they could not provide reason to me why it was so"

The Minister said the action is warning signal that government would not condone inefficiency, adding that that next time such a things happens, it might lead to the sack of the staff.

"Any staff who is not prepared to keep up with the present trend of service delivery in the Aviation industry should shape up or be ready to be shipped out. 'Gone are the days when minor lapses are overlooked at our International gateway", he said.

The Minister spoke of some new projects being undertaken by federal government to improve safety of air travel in the country, which includes the intallation of three Wind Shell system in Lagos, Kano and Port Harcourt airports as well as six weather detection facility and six thunderstorm detection equipment to assist in providing early warning alarm to air traffic operators .

Omotoba while commenting on the significance of hosting the regional safety organisation, said apart from helping to promote high standards in safety and security at the country's airports, BAGASOO will serve as rallying point for other member nations who will inturn be assisted to fulfill their ICAO mandated safety obligations.

Member states of the BAG are Nigeria, Ghana, Cape Verde , Gambia, Guinea (Conakry, Liberia and Sierra Leone .

"The goal of human capacity development in Nigeria will be further facilitated by ICAO, manufacturers and donor agencies who will readily sponsor and assist in the provision of mandator training for safety inspectors at the BAGASOO location in Nigeria", he said.