Abdulahi Ganduje, Chairman, Board of Directors of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) on Monday lamented the loss of equipment, especially those of Nigerian Meteorological Agency and Nigerian Airspace Management Agency , saying the incident was a great concern to the board members when it was first reported on Monday.

Ganduje said the cause of the fire could not be ascertained yet as authorities were working to unravel it.

Read also: Lagos airport fire outbreak completely destroyed our air to ground equipment – MD NAMA

Speaking while assessing the level of damage at the old terminal , he said: “There’s no doubt when we heard about the fire outbreak at the International Airport here in Lagos, it was an issue of great concern, especially the board members, we believe the core value of FAAN is safety. And this really affected the safety of the airport, including the safety of the employees, the safety of passengers, the safety of equipment and the safety of many other infrastructural facilities.

” We decided to be here in order to see for ourselves, we have seen the damage that occurred, but at the same time we have to congratulate the MD and her management team, especially the firefighters, over 150 of them who were around until the fire was completely quenched but his is an unfortunate situation. From what we have seen, the firefighters did a lot of work. We have seen that a lot of very sensitive equipment has been destroyed, but no death was recorded anyway. I think the situation is under control now but it’s unfortunate.”, he said.

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Ganduje said he was delighted over FAAN’s move to erect a befitting temporary terminal for passengers’ comfort.

”This is a beautiful terminal, the quality here commendable. I thought I was in one of the well-developed foreign international airports, but I am happy to see that I am in Nigeria and in Lagos. The quality of work is beautiful, and all the equipment is being fixed right now, and I think it is going to be a big success coupled with the remodeling work”, he added.

Recall that Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister, Festus Keyamo said on Tuesday that wether equipment belonging to Nimet was destroyed in the fire saying the officers were using some equipment sent to Lagos from other stations.

Read also: Fire-ravaged airport terminal would still have been pulled down Keyamo

Also, Umar Ahmed Farouk, Managing Director, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), on Wednesday said the Agency’s Air To Ground communication equipment was completely destroyed by the fire that gutted the airport on Monday.

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.

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