The minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, says some private aircraft operating in Nigeria are being used for money laundering, drug trafficking and other illegal activities.
Keyamo made the revelation at the Ministry of Aviation in Abuja yesterday, when he inaugurated a Ministerial Taskforce Committee to checkmate illegal chartered operations in the country.
Though the minister did not mention the names of the airlines, he asserted that these illegal activities have made the sector lose billions of dollars and raised serious security concerns.
The minister further stated that some of those involved in the illegal activities are those who acquired licences for non-commercial flights operations but gone against the stipulated agreement of the licence
Addressing the committee members, Keyamo mandated that they take inventory of all non-commercial flights operators, investigate all professional licences and checkmate their authenticity as well as recommend disciplinary measures against airlines found culpable.
“It has come to my attention, through a series of disturbing reports, that the practice of illegal charter operations is thriving within the aviation industry, thereby undermining the efforts of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and other regulatory bodies. These illicit activities have not only resulted in significant financial losses to the Federal Government, but have also raised security and safety concerns as the operations of private aircraft owners have remained largely unchecked and unregulated. This has also resulted in using these private aircrafts for other illegal activities.
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