naptu2:
There is no civilian airport in Makurdi, only an air force base, but civilian planes are allowed to land at the base. That's why issues like this often occur. People might not remember that this is not the first time that there have been issues with the base. There are always issues because the military have got to make their own security arrangements/decisions considering the situation of things in the country.

There was a time (in 2018) when the Air Force had to close the base for maintenance. Governor Ortom alleged that the Federal Airport Authority was closing the base in order to cage him. He claimed that they wanted to force him to use the roads in order to expose him to bandits. The Air Force replied that the base is a military airport and FAAN has no authority over it.


Once again, in 2018, a group of Middle Belt, South-South and South East leaders, including Edwin Clark and John Nia Nwodo, wanted to fly into Makurdi, but their plane was denied permission to land. This was while the base was still closed for maintenance. The Air Force said that the airport was still undergoing maintenance and besides, the Benue State Government did not inform it of the flight ahead of time. It said that special measures would have been put in place to receive the aircraft if they had been informed ahead of time.


Sometime before the 2019 election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was scheduled to land at the airport for one of his campaigns, but his plane was not allowed to land. The Air Force said that it had closed the base to all non-military flights because it was being used for counter insurgency operations.


Ahead of the 2015 election, General Muhammadu Buhari's plane was also denied permission to land at the base. The former governor of the state, George Akume, blamed President Goodluck Jonathan for the refusal to allow the plane land. However, when Akume was governor (between 1999-2007) General Buhari's plane had been prevented from landing in Makurdi during the 2003 and 2007 election campaigns and Mr Akume had boasted about the incidents.


Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso's plane was also denied permission to land at Makurdi Airport when he was still an APC presidential aspirant.

ShaqFu:
Hian. The AirForce Officer who was suspended, I believe he should be asked if he wasn't privy to the protocol ìnvolving the state governor coming to receive the V.P and if he wasn't, then there's a communication gap in the Air Force and the officer should be called back immediately.

However whoever is responsible for the communication gap should be the one suspended.