Aviation industry stakeholders, including airline operators have raised the alarm over the increasing rate of theft on domestic flights, involving passengers.
They alleged that the desire to steal from other passengers has been on the increase in the past few years.
This is coming as the Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Michael Achimugu, confirmed that a passenger in one of the domestic flights had recently reported a case of theft to NCAA, where he was robbed of $100, 000, while onboard a flight.
Different airlines have also alleged onboard thefts, which sometimes disrupt flight operations.
According to a recent eye witness account, a traveler in a Lagos-Owerri bound
flight, quickly carried another’s bag but because of the long distance between the tarmac and arrival hall, the real owner was able to stop him and retrieved the bag from the alleged thief.
“I was on a flight to Owerri with a lot of Diaspora Nigerians. They have checked in lots of bags and dragged some on board. Once the plane landed at SMICA (Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport), Owerri, the usual confusion started. Passengers started jumping up and moving anyhow. One man stood up and grabbed a bag from the overhead locker and walked down and out of the plane. Unfortunately for him it was a long walk from where the plane packed to the arrival hall. The real owner of the bag got off the plane and chased him down. He grabbed his bag from him and the guy said it was an error,” the passenger said.
Reacting to the incident, travel expert and organizer of Akwaaba African Travel Market, Ambassador Ikechi Uko, said the person whose bag was taken away should have drawn the attention of other passengers and crew so that the alleged thief would be arrested.
He, however, suggested that passengers should not be allowed to open the overhead locker; instead, the cabin crew should open it in order to monitor the actions of the passengers as they pull their bags from the locker.
There have been many incidents of stealing onboard aircraft in Nigeria. Few years ago, there was a mild drama in early morning flight of Arik Air from Lagos to Abuja as two suspects were caught stealing from a bag belonging to another passenger few minutes to landing at the local wing of Nnamdi Azikwe Airport in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The attention of the passengers were attracted by the voice of one of the crew members on the flight, asking one of the suspects to sit down and should dare not utter a word since he had been finally caught.
But the key suspect stood up to the crew member, asking him to state his offence, but unknown to the suspect, his movement in the aircraft was monitored by another staff of Arik Air, who pretended to be a passenger, sleeping on one of the seats close by.
The Arik Air staff watched as the first suspect opened one of the overhead lockers, brought down a bag and removed a polyethylene bag containing two wrapped envelopes and loose N1000 notes.
The second suspect came into the picture when he gave a black bag to the first suspect, who kept their monies inside. He zipped up the bag and hid it by the side of his seat. They were later arrested.
Also, in July last year, a passenger was caught for allegedly stealing N1million aboard an Air Peace flight from Abuja to Port Harcourt.
According to the airline, one Vitalis Nwabuzor on-board Abuja-PHC Flight P47192 on July 27 stole the cash but was arrested.
The airline said: “Nwabuzor stole the said amount contained in a brown envelope but was caught by the owner of the money and with the intervention of the airline’s staff.”
According to him, the suspect had taken another passenger’s computer bag from the overhead cabin during the flight, adding that he collected the brown envelope containing the money before returning the bag to the compartment.
“He was one of the first few to disembark despite the announcement of a proper disembarkation sequence by the crew. He was eventually caught and the money retrieved from him. Different currencies in different denominations were found on him,” official of the airline stated.
The passenger was handed over to the security operatives attached to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) for transfer to the police for further investigations.
Spokesman and Director of Consumer Protection, NCAA, Achimugu, told THISDAY in a telephone interview on Wednesday, saying, “There is a case on my desk, where a passenger claimed that he lost almost $100, 000, taken from his bag while in a flight; but I want to make this clear, the airlines are responsible for your checked in luggage but you are responsible for young hand luggage, except in some special circumstances. The cabin crew who attends to the passengers cannot leave their job to be monitoring luggage in the overhead locker.”
Different domestic carriers have adopted different measures to stem the unscrupulous act of stealing in-flight and they many of them warn passengers to be careful and weary of any movement around their bags in the overhead locker.
Airline crew usually announces to passengers that stealing could happen onboard; there have been incidents like that; so, everyone should be careful with his luggage.
What some airlines also do is to direct that passengers would not open the overhead locker; when the aircraft comes to a complete stop, the crew would open the overhead locker and watch attentively as passengers take their luggage.
Many airlines have lost their valuables to thieves who steal in the aircraft, as there have been reports of some passengers who reported that their valuables were stolen; sometimes after the passenger had reached home and found out that the valuable was missing.
There have also been complaints by the Aviation Security (AVSEC) of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), that alleged that airlines do not follow through when a robbery suspect is caught in the aircraft, handed over the police for prosecution.
They recalled two incidents where such suspects were taken to the airport road police station and because there was no follow up effort, the case were not taken to court for prosecution and they were dropped.
However, industry stakeholders say that every effort should be made to stop onboard stealing because it has tarnished the image of the country, especially the aviation industry.
