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‘Unidentified’ aircraft over Presidential villa known, NAMA dismisses radar coverage claim
The Managing Director of Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) Ahmed Umar Farouk said the country’s entire airspace is covered by radar, dismissing claims that the country lacks adequate radar coverage as false and misleading.
Farouk in a statement Saturday morning disclosed that the radar stations in Nigeria (Kano, Lagos, Abuja, and Port-Harcourt) are serviceable, stressing that radar services for Terminal and Enroute flights are positively identified and provide air navigation services to airspace users.
He stated that the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria otherwise known as TRACON like any other electronics system, is undergoing an upgrade of software and modernisation to meet the ever-growing demand for efficient, effective and seamless air traffic management services but says that the Nigerian airspace is not covered by radar he noted is misleading.
The TRACON project is a major facility, which has eased air navigation and the surveillance of the Nigerian airspace and also enabled real-time search and rescue operations within the country’s airspace.
He further stated that the welfare of Nigerian air traffic controllers in terms of salaries and allowances is not in contention, as to suggest that it is the lowest in the world, hinting that NAMA, as a reputable agency, prides herself on ensuring sustainable welfare packages for her staff, especially the Air Traffic Controllers.
A blogger had appeared on television stations claiming that an unidentified aircraft was spotted flying around the Presidential Villa in Abuja undetected.
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had affirmed that there was no security threat to Aso Rock, Nigeria’s seat of power.
The NCAA had issued a stringent warning to all aircraft operators after receiving a report from the office of the National Security Adviser about an unknown aircraft flying over the Presidential Villa (DNP4).
The “unknown aircraft” (DNP4) which flew over the Presidential Villa in Aso Rock, Abuja, causing panic for government officials was a Max Air flight.
But Farouk stated that the reported “unidentified” aircraft is a security terminology. In real terms, the aircraft in question is known, but only to the air traffic controllers, stressing that the violation was in the interest of safety, as a result of adverse weather (serious thunderstorm) on the said date.
The purported circular issued by the NCAA is for airlines to be guided from straying into the marked and published prohibited or restricted areas of the Nigerian airspace.
His words, “It is obvious that the journalist in question does not understand the workings of the surveillance systems, hence his misconstrued and misguided information on Primary and Secondary Radar. The agency shall willfully volunteer information on her services to anyone who requires them at any time.”
He said NAMA remains committed to its responsibility to provide safe, effective, economic, and efficient air navigation services in Nigeria. The existence of robust, effective civil/military coordination and collaboration guarantee a secured airspace and air navigation, adding, “We are pleased to say that the Nigerian airspace is safe and secured.
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