Chaos at new Lagos airport terminal as baggage conveyor system breaks down

Specifically, a total of 6.53 million passengers arrived at the 17 local airports in 2021 while 6.47 million passengers departed through them.

The operational integrity of the new international terminal at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) was called into question this week as a major technical failure in the baggage conveyor system plunged the facility into chaos.

Stranded passengers were forced to navigate ‘bottleneck’ at the arrivals hall after the primary carousel broke down, leading to scenes of travellers physically scrambling over the stationary carousel to retrieve their checked-in luggage amidst rising concerns over missing luggage.

The disruption, captured in a viral video circulating online also showed aggrieved passengers voicing their frustration over the lack of immediate management intervention.

“This incident again serves as a reminder that modern terminals, regardless of their architectural pedigree remain vulnerable to systemic collapse without a robust, real-time response framework from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN),” Tayo, an aggrieved passenger told BusinessDay.

A baggage carousel is a rotating conveyor system in airport arrival halls designed to deliver checked luggage to passengers. These systems operate at speeds between 15 and 30 meters per minute.

BusinessDay’s findings show that airlines had sent messages calling FAAN to address the issue as passenger waited long hours to access their their luggage.

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Tayo said waiting time at the baggage claim area for most passengers was over two hours because of the crowd and difficulty passengers went through to identify their luggage.

“I returned through the same airport last Thursday 12th of March. The e-gates for passport control & immigration were excellent, first world class. I was pleased.

“However, as soon as I got past this, it was ‘bedlam’, a ‘mad house’! I was ashamed of what Nigeria was displaying.
I compared it with what I had experienced in Accra, Nairobi, Casablanca or Johannesburg. It was awful, a disgrace,” Grace another aggrieved passenger told BusinessDay.

A source at FAAN who confirmed the incident to BusinessDay said “It wasn’t broken down, it was just electricity that went down.”

According to the source, an armored cable broke, while some digging was being done on the airport grounds as the rehabilitation project geared up.

He however said the issue has been resolved and the carousels are now in good working conditions.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.