Teenage stowaway not criminally liable –SANs

Detained 13-year-old stowaway, Daniel Ohikhena, who hid in the wheel well of an Arik aircraft on a flight from Benin to Lagos, may not be criminally liable for the alleged crime, for which he is being investigated. Two Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SANs, Mallam Yusuf Ali and Mr. Rotimi Jacobs said the teenager was not criminally liable for the alleged offence on the ground that he enjoys a remedy under the Children and Young Persons Act, CYPA.

Chairman of Ikeja Branch of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, Mr. Monday Ubani also corroborated this position in an interview with our correspondent, saying under the law, the teenager could only be tried in a juvenile court. The lawyers were unanimous that Daniel “is not classified as an adult who can be arraigned in the court of law.” According to Ali, the suspect as a teenager cannot be tried in court. He will be charged at the juvenile court, where if found guilty, will be taken to a correctional home rather than the conventional prison yard.
He said: “He is a juvenile; he would have to be taken to a juvenile court, where the law classified people of his age to be tried.” Jacobs also aligned with Ali’s position, saying that the juvenile can only be arraigned in a juvenile court and not the regular court. He said: “The law is clear about people of his age; he will be taken to a juvenile court where the law provided that teenagers should be tried.” Ubani, in his own submission, noted that sentences passed on the offender would be to correct, rather than to punish. He said that government should think more of correcting the teenager and trains him to be one of the best in whatever field he chooses for himself.
Evelyn, the mother of the teenager was quizzed last week for several hours by a combined team of security operatives, including the State Security Service, SSS, and aviation security personnel. Meanwhile, a security expert has revealed that there were no fewer than 96 stowaway incidents on aircraft worldwide in 65 years, just as he attributed the urge for greener pastures in developed world as a major factor for the act. Speaking with our correspondent over the weekend, the Chairman, Scope Centre Limited, a security firm, Mr. Adebayo Babatunde, disclosed that between 1947 to 2012, there were 96 stowaways in 85 separate flights, who hid in the wheel well of airplanes. According to him, of these numbers, there were 73 fatalities with only 23 survivors. Babatunde, however, explained that stowaways are mostly common in third world countries and South America, maintaining that most of those who embark on the journey did so as a result of ignorance. He added that stowaway could be possible if the perimeter fencing are inadequate and urged the Federal Government to ensure adequate erection of perimeter fences as stipulated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO. Babatunde described the Arik Air flight stowaway incident as a serious security breach, which ought not to happen if all the security checks were adequately carried out. He particularly blamed the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, and the management of the airline for the breach and wondered how Daniel was able to beat the security networks of both companies.
He explained that if the boy was a terrorist, the incident would have caused another calamity for the country’s aviation sector, while the probable cause of the crash would be unknown as usual. He advised the Federal Government through FAAN to beef up security within and around airports, saying that airport is more than terminal beautification.

Source: National Mirror