Runway lights at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on Sunday, went off for over an hour thus creating pandemonium among air travellers at the airport.



The development, our correspondent gathered, led to disruption of flights across the country as airplanes could neither land nor take-off from the federal capital city airport while the darkness lasted.



Hundreds of passengers were temporarily stranded inside aircrafts on the tarmac and in the terminal building of the airport while engineers with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria battled to fix the problem.



While the darkness lasted between 7pm and 8pm, several airplanes from Lagos, Port Harcourt and other parts of the country were diverted to the Kano airport, according to airport sources.



Some passengers aboard a Lagos-bound Arik Air flight W3 061 said they spent over one hour on board the aircraft at the Abuja airport.



The Media Officer, Arik Air, Mr. Adebanji Ola, who confirmed the development, said passengers had boarded and the airplane was ready to take-off when the runway lights suddenly went off.



He also said that one of the airline’s planes coming from Port Harcourt to land at Abuja airport had to be diverted to Kano airport due to the problem.



“It is not only our airline. Other airlines were involved. No aircraft could land or take-off at Abuja airport while the problem persisted,” he said.



The General Manager, Public Affairs, FAAN, Mr. Akin Olukunle, who confirmed the development, attributed the problem to “electric fault.”


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