Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has alleged that some private aircraft operating in the country are being used for illegal activities such as money laundering and drug trafficking.
Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday, when he inaugurated a Ministerial Taskforce Committee to checkmate illegal charter operations in Nigeria.
The Minister, who did not name the airlines involved in the illegal operations, lamented that these illegal activities have made the sector lose billions of dollars and raised serious security concerns.
He noted that some of those involved in the illegal charters, acquired licenses for non-commercial flights operations but flouted the stipulated agreement of the licenses.
The Minister therefore mandated the committee members to take inventory of all non-commercial flights operators, investigate all professional licenses and checkmate their authencity as well as recommend disciplinary measures against airlines found culpable.
The eight-man committee chaired by the Chief Executive Office of Aero Contractors, Ado Sanusi, has about three months to send their report to the minister.