EDO GOVT. SECURES ADMISSION FOR STOAWAY BOY IN TOP SCHOOL

Edo State Government has secured
admission in one of the state’s top
secondary schools for 13-year-old
Daniel Oikhena, who stowed away in
the wheel well of an Arik Aircraft
from Benin to Lagos on Saturday
August 24, this year.

This was made known in a statement
signed by Peter Okhiria, CPS to Edo
State Governor Comrade Adams
Oshiomhole the statement
said  Oshiomhole made this
disclosure during the visit of Mr
George Uriesi, Managing Director,
Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria
(FAAN) and other FAAN Management
team to him at the Government
House, Benin City, yesterday..
According to the Governor, “without
meaning to encourage anyone else,
we decided to support him by
sending him to one of the top
secondary schools in Edo State that
is owned by the Government. The
reason for opting for a boarding
school is that we think that there
need to closely watch him which his
parents could not do.
“He is an intelligent young man with
uncommon challenges, but one that
has a vision. We had him examined
by people who should know and the
result confirmed that he is normal”,
Oshiomhole noted.
“This incident was probably the kind
of trigger that we needed to improve
the facilities at our Airports. You
are never going to have all the
money you need to do all you have
to do.  You should start from
somewhere”, he noted.
Oshiomhole added “it is also a
security issue that we do not have
any runway security lights at the
Benin Airport. It is a security issue
because a plane can take off and it
is flying to Benin airspace and it has
mechanical faults and it cannot
land.
“Politically, there could be an
emergency in Edo State and the
President needed to visit and he
cannot land at the airport at night.
You cannot spend the kind of money
you are spending on remodeling and
the little one you have to do is to
ice the cake and you have a
complete project. You should take
this as something more urgent”, he
added.
Earlier, Mr Uriesi said they were in
Benin City for ground assessment of
the stowaway incident which has
forced FAAN to review and improve
on its security arrangements.
He said: “we are responding to the
incident of the stowaway of that
young boy a few weeks ago which
was a big surprise to all of us.
“We want to inform you that we have
taken strenuous measures to ensure
that a similar incident does not
happen. It was serious and
miraculous event, because prior to
that day, I would have told you it
was a death sentence. We are trying
to create an awareness that this is a
death sentence and young people
should not attempt it at all. The
likelihood of survival is slim.”
On the security arreangements put
in place to check a recurrence, Uriesi
said FAAN plans to acquire security
vehicles on take-off and arrival of
planes and that security teams made
up of the Air force and airport
security will now patrol the airports.
He said “one of the negative things
we inherited was that the airports
were not fenced, or some of them
were fenced at the beginning and
the fences have fallen apart.
“We have a plan to fence the airport
and it is an onerous task. The
smallest airport perimeter fence in
the country is fourteen kilometers
and the biggest one is about 33
kilometers. Altogether it is about
500 kilometers. It is a huge capital
outlay. We need to secure the
airports.
“We also wish to enlighten the
youths that they should not try it.
This boy is a miracle boy”, he
noted.