Governor Diri’s bags …How his aides violated Lagos airport security procedures during inaugural flight

Was it fake news? Those concerned haven’t said so. Indeed, they haven’t bothered to respond to the news, which reflects the same attitude manifested in the news.

On August 11, eyewitnesses said Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri, and his aides, violated the airport security procedures, particularly at airport security checkpoints at the Terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed Domestic Airport in Lagos. They said the governor and his aides treated the airport security rules and procedures with disdain.

“The governor had arrived at the airport for the inaugural flight of United Nigeria Airlines to Bayelsa International Airport,” SaharaReporters reported. “Upon arrival at the airport around 12pm, the governor and his aides headed for the screening points where they displayed outright disregard for the rules at the airport which triggered the security alarm system,” according to the online medium.

A passenger, who witnessed the incident, was quoted as saying: “The airport security officials did everything to get them to undergo the procedure at the security checkpoint but they refused to put their bags through the screening x-ray machine. They kept saying the bags belonged to the governor and they all forced their way through the checkpoint. The alarm system was activated.”

The airport security officers were said to have pleaded with the governor and his aides but they stuck to their guns, and ended up flying after breaking a basic rule in the aviation industry.

Yes, the bags involved in the drama belonged to Governor Diri. Should they have been given special treatment because of that? Where did the governor’s aides get the idea that their boss’s bags should not be scanned?

What did the bags contain? Why was it such a big deal to allow them to be scanned? The governor’s aides, by their conduct regarding a matter of routine, exposed his idea of power.

The governor allowed his aides to do their drama, which is why it happened. He was supposed to know better, and demonstrate a sense of responsibility that could be lacking among his aides. In the end, it wasn’t clear if the governor himself lacked a sense of responsibility.

Beyond the governor and his actors, the country’s aviation authorities and the Lagos Airport authorities have not responded to the news. What happened reflected a failure of enforcement. Governor Diri is not above the law, and he should not be allowed to think he could be.

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