FAAN, BI-Courtney clash at airport over billboards

THE Federal  Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) yesterday accused  Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, operators of the MMA Domestic Terminal 2  (MMA 2) of forcefully using thugs to replace the advertisement flex  removed by the authority recently because such advert displays constituted a breach in the concession agreement between the two organisations.
A statement issued by the image maker of FAAN, Yakubu Dati, alleged that  activities of the hoodlums used by Bi-Courtney to remove the billboards  “resulted in unnecessary traffic bottleneck on the airport access road before FAAN security officials dispersed them, restored order in the affected part of airport and removed the advertisement flex.” The development came even as Bi-Courtney, in turn, accused FAAN of using thugs to attack its officials in the course of replacing its billboards earlier damaged by FAAN officials.
According to Bi-Courtney, through its spokesman, Steve Omolale, trouble broke out when FAAN came with its security officials to attack its officials while replacing the company’s adverts billboard earlier damaged and at the same time damaged the video camera belonging to Bi-Courtney.
A statement issued by Bi-Courtney declared: “For the second time in two weeks, officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) vandalised the advert billboards placed by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL) on the hotel project at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA2) yesterday.
“Besides, the agency’s officials with about 60 hired thugs invaded the premises of MMA2, where they assaulted the workers, damaged a video camera and seized many handsets belonging to the workers.
They swooped on the billboard barely 15 minutes after it was reinstalled and vandalised it before taking it away in a van.
They had earlier vandalised the same advert billboards on the hotel project and another on the pedestrian bridge on Thursday, June 6, this year, despite a subsisting court order by Justice Stephen Adah of the Federal High Court, Ikeja Division, given on November 15, 2011.
It will be recalled that FAAN recently removed all illegal advertisement material on billboards and structures along the internal road of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, including those displayed by Bi-Courtney because such advert materials infringed on advertisement rights of the Authority, since those who placed the adverts did not receive the permission of FAAN to do so.

Culled from The Tribune

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