The minister of aviation and aerospace development, Festus Keyamo, revealed that operations of private aircraft have become worrisome as they have been used for illegal activities.
The minister, who refused to identify names of people involved, made the revelation at the Ministry of Aviation in Abuja on Thursday, when he inaugurated a Ministerial Taskforce Committee to checkmate illegal chartered operations in the country.
Keyamo note that those accused set of individuals in the illegal activities are the people who acquired licenses for non-commercial flights operations but gone against the stipulated agreement of the licenses.
He said: “It has come to my attention, through a series of disturbing reports, that the practice of illegal charter operations is thriving within the aviation industry, thereby undermining the efforts of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and other regulatory bodies.
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“These illicit activities have not only resulted in significant financial losses to the Federal Government but have also raised security and safety concerns as the operations of private aircraft owners have remained largely unchecked and unregulated. This has also resulted in using these private aircraft for other illegal activities.
“Last week, the National Security Adviser wrote to us, alerting us of the spike in money laundering, drug trafficking and other illegal activities through the use of private aircraft in the country.
“It appears that Private Non-Commercial Flight (PNCF) operators have become increasingly emboldened, continuing their illegal operations with the assistance of Air Operator Certificate (AOC) holders who collect tolls and list these illegal charters under their AOCs.”
