Panic envelopes MMIA as Air Force carry out mock counterterrorist exercise

By OKOSUN DENNIS

The Nigerian Airforce on Tuesday carried a mock counterterrorism exercise at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.

The exercise which was carried in three phases – briefing, action and debriefing – sent panic wave among passengers at the airport as gun shot rent the air at the arrival cum departure halls in a desperate attempt of NAF personnel to outwit the terrorists who held passengers hostage.

The mock counter-terrorism attack which was codenamed Exercise Thunder Bolt saw passengers at the airport trying to find a secured place to hide and scampered for safety.

The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadiq Abubarka said the mock counter-terrorism attack was to reassure the public about the forces’ readiness and preparedness to tackle terrorists.

“The whole essence of this exercise is to evaluate the quick response force. These are highly trained and skilled individuals who have been trained to protect our airports and to make sure our airports are safe from terrorism and any kind of threat.

“So the essence of this exercise is for us to really evaluate and understand how effective they are going to be in case we have this kind of challenge.

“And it is not an exercise that is just conducted by the airforce alone, you need to interface with other agencies of government like the airport authority and so on.

“So the whole idea is to have an understanding of what kind of tanquility we have in the event we are required to function in. I am happy we have been able to test the plans we have for this airport.

“There is a remarkable improvement on the one conducted in Abuja, but whatever gaps there are we will go back and fix it.

“What we want is to have a force that will be effective in the event of attack on our airport; you can have the training, you can have the skills, unless you are tested from time to time you won’t be able to know if there will be gaps.

“There are few gaps which we are going to address which is even why we are conducting the exercise for us to see how effective we are going to be in case we are called to protect Nigerians or the airports.

“But from what we have seen i am very happy with the cooperation between the agencies, the army, police, civil defence and so on.

“We are happy we are able to conduct, plan together and simulate and acess an exercise together.

When asked if passengers who were not aware about the exercise sustained injury, Abubakar said he was not aware but added that  things like that could happen in real war situations.

“In real situations, things like that can happen and that is why we have the medical services, the hospital officials and the ambulances.

“The whole idea is for us to access ourselves, are we in a good position to protect Nigerians and i can tell you that from what i have seen, we have done well,” he said.

The exercise was attended by the Minister of Defence, Alhaji Mansur Dan Ali represented by Mrs Osai Osai, the Governor of Lagos state, Mr Akinwumi Ambode, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Tunji Bello, the General Officer Commanding, 81 Division, Air Officer Commanding, Logistics Command, the Managing Director, FAAN, Salem Dunoma and senior military personnel and other top government officials.