The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has dismissed claims by Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, that Nigerian passengers travelling from Paris to Abuja in an aircraft owned by Air France Airlines were stranded in Chad.
Speaking on Saturday, the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection of the NCAA, Michael Achimugu, dismissed Keyamo’s claim that passengers were stranded.
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Achimugu explained that the aircraft had to land in Chad following a technical fault it developed due to weather.
He added that the airline has, however, lodged all the passengers in a hotel, assuring that they will all be airlifted to Abuja on Monday.
He said, “First of all, passengers are not stranded; that word is being abused these days. The aircraft developed a technical fault due to weather. So the passengers can only be stranded if the airline has abandoned them but the airline has accommodated all of the passengers in two five-star hotels and taken care of their feeding as well.
“They are not stranded, they are just concerned about when they will be airlifted back home finally. I have spoken with the airline and a ferry flight is coming so that the passengers can be airlifted first thing Monday morning. However, discussions are on to see how possible it is to bring them to Abuja tomorrow (Sunday) but that conversation is not concluded yet, the only certain thing now is that they will be airlifted first thing on Monday morning but they are not stranded.”