FAAN clashes with vendors at MMA1,
seizes newspaper copies
Authorities of the
Federal Airport
Authority of Nigeria
(FAAN) at the Murtala
Mohammed Airport
Terminal 1 (MMA1), on
Wednesday, raided
newspaper vendors
and impounded copies
of national dailies.
The incident, The
Guardian learnt, was
alleged to be measures
to rid the terminal of
illegal and
unregistered
businesses, and as a
security measure
against infiltration of
terrorists into Lagos.
The vendors, who
confirmed the incident,
said the measure
would kill their
businesses, as they
don’t have the
wherewithal to meet
the requirements for a
legal registration,
which includes levies
and rents.
The head of vendors in
the terminal, Wale
Adesina, said the
development was
troubling as the
vendors were taken
unawares. “I have
been to the Terminal
Manager’s office today
and he insists that we
must have a legal
backing to operate in
the premises. I don’t
know how to go about
that. And we all know
that the online media
is competing with
newspapers;
passengers confirm to
us that they read
online.”
A distribution agent
with one of the
national dailies, Oke
Olawale, said vendors
do not know their fate
in the terminal and
there was no
guarantee that they
would be safe even
after they might have
legally registered.
According to him, “one
of my vendors came to
call me this morning
that copies of
newspapers they were
selling at the airport
has been seized. I came
here and saw the man
in charge, who told me
he doesn’t want to see
any vendor at the
terminal. There were
other people here, who
sell different wares,
but the man didn’t
touch them. They later
carried the papers to
the Chief Security
Officer’s (CSO) office.
He has copies of all the
national dailies. We
are trying to get it
back because the
media houses have
policies that would
hurt us if we don’t
sell.”
When contacted for
comments, the CSO,
who the vendors
alleged was in
possession of the
seized newspaper
copies, said he was not
aware that papers
were seized, but that
the terminal manager,
from whom all orders
are taken, was in a
better position to
speak on the matter.
All efforts to react the
terminal manager
proved abortive.
