An insider, who preferred anonymity, has said that vested interests encouraged attack on a businessman at Abuja airport.

Speaking on the assault on Mr. Chidi Kanu, the CEO of VIKO Nigeria by some individuals reportedly identified as members of the Abuja Car Hire Association of Nigeria (ACHAN), the insider with the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), who have chosen not to be named for security reasons, alleged that some officials of the government’s agency are complicit in the circumstances that led to the severe beating metted out on the VIKO boss a week ago.

“It’s actually unfortunate that the VIKO boss, Chidi Kanu is a victim of an institutional decay that the new government is fighting. I can tell you without ambiguity that some officials of the FAAN who have their proxies as drivers at the Abuja airport who are also members of the Abuja Car Hire Association of Nigeria (ACHAN) instigated the attack on the gentleman, Kanu, based on the fact that they, the ACHAN operators, could not deliver the excellent services that kanu’s VIKO is rendering to air travellers who require vehicles to and fro their various destinations in Abuja. And as such the patronage for ACHAN was going down while VIKO continue to gain more grounds and attract customers. So the officials and the ACHAN guys orchestrated that heinous plan to get rid of VIKO and its owner by all means. And that’s sadly the reason for what happened to Kanu last Friday”, the source said.

The CEO of VIKO Nigeria, Chidi Kanu was on Friday, February 19, 2016 at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport beaten to a pulp by a group of about 50 men.
The men were reportedly members of the Abuja Car Hire Association of Nigeria (ACHAN).

Kanu’s Viko also runs a privately-owned car hire service business at the Abuja airport.

According reports, Kanu reportedly incurred the wrath of the ACHAN operators because his company VIKO “runs an innovative and organized free-return service at a very reasonable cost for customers who have a return-leg of an air ticket to their destinations after completing their activities in Abuja.”

Speaking to a team of journalists after the incident, Kanu said it was a clear attempt at murder just because he was trying to improve car hire services at a prime airport like Abuja, create jobs for the unemployed and help in lifting families out of poverty.

The businessman has, as a result of the ugly incident, urged the relevant security authorities to look into his case and bring the evil perpetrators to book, especially the leadership of the ACHAN, who spearheaded the attack while appealing to the federal government to improve security across the country and especially at the airports for the safety of the citizens and visitors to Nigeria.‎

And in similar way, the source at the FAAN has admonished the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, to constitute a panel that will conduct a through investigation on the matter, and on his allegation of complicity involving some FAAN officials and the ACHAN members.

“The best thing to be done is for the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi to constitute a panel that will thoroughly investigate the attack on Kanu and also the moonlighting that has become part of some FAAN’s personnel’s engagement as well as the unethical practices between the FAAN officials and the ACHAN drivers”, he suggested.