“The intention has never been to jeopardize the
airlifting of pilgrims as has been wrongly
portrayed.”
The Nigerian military on Saturday said its restriction
of the use of the Maiduguri airport was “purely for
security reasons.”
The airport is one of the international airports in
Nigeria mainly used to airlift Muslim pilgrims to
Saudi Arabia.
The restriction, which means the airport would not
be used for the annual pilgrimage, fuelled
speculations that the military was deliberately
preventing Nigerian Muslims a religious right.
The military, in a statement by its spokesperson,
Chris Olukolade, however, said the restrictions
followed a security assessment of the situation in
Nigeria.
The spokesperson said the assessment indicated
that a sudden massive air lift could not be
permitted in the light of the threats and ongoing
operations in the area.
Maiduguri is the capital of Borno State, the main
base of the Boko Haram group that has killed over
12,000 people since its insurgency began in 2009.
“Apparently, the implications of such massive airlift
and traffic from the facility in the light of present
security situation was not appreciated early enough
by those planning the exercise to enable proper
security procedure be installed for the important
exercise,” Mr. Olukolade said.
He however explained that alternative arrangement
was worked out with relevant authorities in the
state to ease movement of pilgrims.
The process, he said, has continued irrespective of
expected inconveniences which he said will be
taken care of in due time.
Mr. Olukolade, a Major General, said the restrictions
had no religious or political connotation and that
the sensitivity of the security situation in Nigeria
calls for due caution.
“The intention has never been to jeopardize the
airlifting of pilgrims as has been wrongly
portrayed,” he said.
He appealed to the media not to yield itself to the
pressure of those seeking to make political or
economic capital out of the security situation.
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