There was confusion at the Kaduna Airport on Sunday, when villagers around the airport impounded an aircraft belonging to IRS Airline with passengers on board to protest the blockage of the footpath they often walked through to the airport by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

The incident which occurred around  9.00 a.m., was as a result of the decision by FAAN to fence the airport to prevent unnecessary incursions  as witnessed by the recent development involving the aircraft carrying the vice-presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) which ran into goats on landing at the Bauch Airport.

The fencing of the airport also forms part of the ongoing construction of perimeter fencing in eight airports across the country in preparation for the coming of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) audit team in May.

The managing director of FAAN, Mr. Richard Aisuebeogun, who had earlier  said that most of the constructions would be commissioned before the May audit, added that the fence in Port Harcourt Airport was 85 per cent completed.

According to information gathered by the Nigerian Tribune, the villagers  who come from Ifira  were angered when they discovered that FAAN had decided  to fence the airport.

A source who witnessed the confrontation between them and the IRS officials disclosed that they held the plane hostage until the police came to disperse them with some of them arrested in the process.

Confirming the incident, the Assistant Secretary General of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Alhaji Muhammed Tukur, commended FAAN for ensuring that the protesters did not damage the aircraft even as he praised the organisation for making efforts to secure the airport.

According to Tukur, FAAN’s decision was in line with the ICAO recommended practice that all airports must be fenced to avoid runway incursions that are capable of endangering lives.