The ministry tasked with the responsibility of overseeing alleged illegal private commercial activities of charters in Nigeria, has begun a probe on private jet owners on Thursday, to address matters as pertaining to the observation of Aviation rules.
In a chat with newsmen, the Vice Chairman of the task force, Roland Iyayi, revealed to the public that the probe would begin with an interview phase to be conducted with all private jet owners soon.
The chairman in his statement said that, “We are inviting them in from next Thursday for an interview. It (interview) will go on the whole of next week to see what they have done or not done. So, until we talk to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and the local operators, we are in that phase of interviewing them.”
According to Iyayi, invitations for interview process is yet to be given and not formally sent out, but certain individuals suspected of illegal activities have already been tracked down and identified awaiting interrogation.
In the statement, he said, “We have not sent out the invites yet, but we have identified some of the illegal operators, so we will invite them and ask specific questions, which is where we are now.”
Before this time, the Nigeria Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, in June, had compiled inaugurated a ministerial task force with the responsibility of handling illegal private charter operations, noting that it would be involved in engagement of taking inventory and note of all private non-commercial flight holders and air operator certificate holders in the nation.
This is coming as a result of the numerous complaints related to money laundering and illegal drug smuggling amongst other activities carried out by legitimate commercial air charter operators and alarming security reports from the country’s security agencies over time.
Upon the inauguration of the task force, the members were given a three-month deadline to complete their task and report back to the ministry.
According to the Aviation minister, the task force will, among others, aid to point out and determine why the practice of illegal charters by PNCF holders persists in the country despite laid down regulatory measures.
Read More
