Saturday, April 17, 2010

The family of a Nigerian, who wanted to play James Bond and perhaps, shock the world with his plan, is currently gnashing its teeth,
as the venture has ended in tragedy.

Saturday Sun gathered that a young
Nigerian, Mr.
Emeka Okechukwu Okeke, recently wanted to do the
impossible by smuggling
himself into the United States, but ended up arriving not
only in
body bag but also as mangled body.

Impeccable sources at the Murtala Muhammed International,
Lagos,
revealed that Okeke had beaten all security at the
airport, traced
his way to the tarmac and sneaked into the tyre
compartment of a
Delta Airline’s plane scheduled to depart for Atlanta,
United
States.

It was gathered that the plane had departed Lagos, without
Okeke
being detected, and safely arrived Atlanta. Ground staff
of the
airline, in the United States, were said to have
discovered pieces
of flesh and blood smear on one of the tyres of the plane
and raised
an alarm.
A check on the plane revealed the mangled body of Okeke in
one of
the tyre compartments of the aircraft. The check also
revealed a
bag and a mobile phone on what remained of the body of the
young
man.
Saturday Sun gathered that shocked
officials of
Delta Airlines, in the US, had put on the mobile phone and
scrolled
through the numbers. To find out the identity of the man,
they were
said to have called the last number dialed and made
inquiries. The
man, who received the call, was said to have revealed that
the owner
of the phone had travelled to the United States.

Delta Airlines officials in the United States had
transferred the
case to Nigeria, where it was discovered that Okeke, who
is married,
had confided in some of his friends and relatives that he
was travelling
to the United States on the night he sneaked into the tyre
compartment
of the aircraft. His family has been contacted and its
members have
identified the corpse of Okeke.

According to our source, Okeke is from Anambra and had
tried unsuccessfully
for years to get a visa to America. Owing to desperation,
he decided
to embark on the risky venture, which eventually claimed
his life.
Although, he told his family that he was travelling to US,
he never
revealed that he was going to sneak into the tyre
compartment of
the aircraft.

According to our source, Okeke colluded with airport
officials to
gain access to the tarmac, before finding his way to the
plane in
the dark. He was said to have wrapped himself in a
blanket, not
knowing that the aircraft tyres would get to where he was
and kill
him.

Meanwhile, Delta Airline staffers, who guarded the plane
at the
airport on the day the incident happened, have been
arrested by
the police, to explain how Okeke sneaked into the tyre
compartment
of the plane.
Saturday Sun gathered that Delta Airline
has a
security policy, whereby its plane at the Murtala Muhammed
International
Airport, is guarded from the time it arrives Nigeria, in
the afternoon,
till when it departs with passengers in the night.

With such security arrangement, the airline is, therefore,
shocked
that somebody could have access to the plane undetected
and embarked
on a suicide mission, which has caused the airline a
scandal.
The police at the airport command are currently battling
to find
out how security was breached at the airport that day.

An airport official, who pleaded for anonymity, told Saturday

Sun, that many people had been smuggled out of
the country
by sneaking into aircraft.

The source said: “That route is for people who have guts
and
all efforts to leave Nigeria have failed. The man has bad
luck;
it is not his destiny to leave Nigeria. Maybe he did not
follow
the instructions given to him on how to survive under
there. This
is not the first time people are sneaking out of Nigeria
through
that means. Sometime last year a woman travelled through
that means
and arrived safely.
“If this man arrived safely, we would not be talking about

this. He was careless with his life. Now innocent staff of
the airline
are going to suffer for his mistake. Those who guarded the
plane
that night were arrested.”

The racket at the airport
The question being asked by people is, how possible is it that somebody
would gain access to the tarmac undetected, considering
the tight
security in the airport? Our source explained that such
illegal
movement is being coordinated by a syndicate at the
airport, which
also works with airlines’ workers.
It was gathered that people who need such services pay as
much as
N800,000. They tutored on how to survive in the aircraft
compartment.
For one, it was learnt that they are given blankets and
winter clothes
with which they would keep warn while the plane is in
flight across
the Atlantic.
In the country of destination, the illegal immigrants are
received
by agents in the syndicate, who smuggle them into the
country.

Our source blamed the level of corruption at the airport
on poor
working condition, alleging that some of staff are paid
N30, 000
monthly.

“In this present day, how can one survive with such an
amount
of money? We have to survive; that is why there can never
be a cure
for the level of corruption at the airport. There is
nothing like
absolute security; the people at the helm of affairs
smuggle things
into the plane also, despite their fat allowance,” an
airport
worker said.
When contacted, officials of Delta airlines refused to
comment.
However, a policeman at the airport command confirmed the
incident
and said investigation was going on.

www.phbamaiyi.com

Commando

This explains just how tired people are of this joke called Nigeria!