Nigeria impounds British plane for breaking coronavirus flight ban rules - aviation minister

 

FILE PHOTO: Hadi Sirika, Nigeria's minister of state on aviation, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Abuja, Nigeria, December 20, 2016. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

 

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria impounded a plane operated by a British company for allegedly contravening a flight ban imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the aviation minister said on Sunday.

 

Passenger flights into the country, with the exception of ones to evacuate people or repatriate Nigerian citizens, have been banned for weeks. The ban will remain in place until at least June 4.

 

Flights for essential services, such as the delivery of food supplies and items for humanitarian use, are permitted.

 

Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika said on Twitter on Sunday that a plane had been impounded after the rules were broken.

 

Sirika said a UK company "was given approval for humanitarian operations but regrettably we caught them conducting commercial flights".

 

The message added: "The craft is impounded, crew being interrogated. There shall be maximum penalty."

 

James Oduadu, an aviation ministry spokesman, told Reuters later in a telephone interview that the plane was operated by a company called FlairJet.

FlairJet, a British private charter company that is an affiliate of Flexjet, in a statement said the matter was an "evolving situation".

 

"We are continuing to respectfully work with the Nigerian authorities to resolve this situation," it said.

 

(Reporting by Felix Onuah in Abuja; Additional reporting and writing by Alexis Akwagyiram in Lagos; Editing by Peter Cooney and Daniel Wallis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-05-18

 

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Rules and Nigerian, it doesn't sound good mix and match. 

Love the hat.

1 hour ago, webfact said:

The message added: "The craft is impounded, crew being interrogated. There shall be maximum penalty."

There is a simple solution to this.

 

Ban all flights from Nigeria in both directions and deny their citizens entry until they fix this little issue which most likely came with a bribe demand attached.

 

 

I just got an email from Nigeria, they want to give me an airplane for a processing fee of $200...

 

43 minutes ago, ukrules said:

There is a simple solution to this.

 

Ban all flights from Nigeria in both directions and deny their citizens entry until they fix this little issue which most likely came with a bribe demand attached.

 

 

Right, because it’s perfectly okay for Brits to break the rules and when they rightfully get their toes stepped on its perfectly acceptable to punish the Africans! Pfff! 

55 minutes ago, pacovl46 said:

Right, because it’s perfectly okay for Brits to break the rules and when they rightfully get their toes stepped on its perfectly acceptable to punish the Africans! Pfff! 

It depends on whos facts you believe. The company was given permission to fly in and out so it sounds like an interpretation of commercial operation.

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Nigeria impounds British plane for breaking coronavirus flight ban rules - aviation minister

Translation: someone gots to get paid!

Expect the Brits were trying to meet their lottery winning princes ????

Good for Nigeria. The bigger guys still have a Neo-colonialist view of Africa and flout laws willy-nilly. Good come back......charge a very large fee to FlexJet for braking the law, and for parking the jets while negotiations are ongoing. For best effect, get the company CEO to go over to Nigeria to induct the negotiations. He is unlikely to want to see the inside of a Nigerian prison (well I wouldn't want to) and will be happy to do anything to avoid being charged with a criminal offence.

I wonder if the seizure order was submitted in ALL CAPS

7 hours ago, webfact said:

James Oduadu, an aviation ministry spokesman, told Reuters later in a telephone interview that the plane was operated by a company called FlairJet.

Ah, no one really likes flairs anymore...

7 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said:

get the company CEO to go over to Nigeria

 

How would he get there ?

When will the Nigerians realise that they are poor because they are corrupt. They are not corrupt because they are poor. 

7 hours ago, pacovl46 said:

Right, because it’s perfectly okay for Brits to break the rules and when they rightfully get their toes stepped on its perfectly acceptable to punish the Africans! Pfff! 

So, you believe this bull <deleted> spouted by the most despicable, dangerous and corrupt country on earth that will use anything to extort money from whatever source and for whatever reason they can think of, no matter how innocent of breaking any rules?

I speak from experience having spent most of my life working in the oil business and encountering many arrogant corrupt Nigerians and never want to go near the place ever again. Nigerian corruption is endemic.

On 5/18/2020 at 2:25 PM, Ketyo said:

When will the Nigerians realise that they are poor because they are corrupt. They are not corrupt because they are poor. 

On the contrary, Nigeria is VERY rich in oil and other natural resources, not to mention a huge amount of UK aid.  The problem lies in the indisputable fact that most of Nigerian wealth is stolen buy a large number of Nigerian despots leaving very little for the poor Nigerians get a chance to steel it.

9 hours ago, ukrules said:

There is a simple solution to this.

 

Ban all flights from Nigeria in both directions and deny their citizens entry until they fix this little issue which most likely came with a bribe demand attached.

 

 

How 19th century colonial of you.

It ain't part of the empire anymore. 

9 hours ago, pacovl46 said:

Right, because it’s perfectly okay for Brits to break the rules and when they rightfully get their toes stepped on its perfectly acceptable to punish the Africans! Pfff! 

 

Yes, because Nigeria is so famous for it's honesty, integrity and adhering to the rule of law.

41 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

How 19th century colonial of you.

It ain't part of the empire anymore. 

 

No, it's an independent thoroughly corrupt <deleted> heap that seems to export criminals involved in drugs, sex, and various computer scams. 

Hey mon, dey be dark skinned so we all know what dat means on Thaivisa.

After years of begging to leave the EU and its foreigners, good to know this is the trade partner we have to cosy up to next.

10 hours ago, pacovl46 said:

Right, because it’s perfectly okay for Brits to break the rules and when they rightfully get their toes stepped on its perfectly acceptable to punish the Africans! Pfff! 

None of us know the precise situation. For all we know, the plane landed in Nigeria because of an emergency. Lets wait until the true information emerges before finger pointing.

12 hours ago, Asquith Production said:

It depends on whos facts you believe. The company was given permission to fly in and out so it sounds like an interpretation of commercial operation.

Sirika said a UK company "was given approval for humanitarian operations but regrettably we caught them conducting commercial flights".

5 hours ago, Paradice lost said:

So, you believe this bull <deleted> spouted by the most despicable, dangerous and corrupt country on earth that will use anything to extort money from whatever source and for whatever reason they can think of, no matter how innocent of breaking any rules?

I speak from experience having spent most of my life working in the oil business and encountering many arrogant corrupt Nigerians and never want to go near the place ever again. Nigerian corruption is endemic.

Do you have proof that that’s the case in this case or are you assuming this is the case? 

4 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Yes, because Nigeria is so famous for it's honesty, integrity and adhering to the rule of law.

Doesn’t change the fact that the UK airline broke the law and deserves to be penalized for it! It’s perfectly alright to penalize Nigeria for the crimes they commit, but it’s not ok to penalize them for penalizing a UK company for breaking the law! 

24 minutes ago, pacovl46 said:

Doesn’t change the fact that the UK airline broke the law and deserves to be penalized for it! It’s perfectly alright to penalize Nigeria for the crimes they commit, but it’s not ok to penalize them for penalizing a UK company for breaking the law! 

Thank you Sir Humphrey ????

4 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Yes, because Nigeria is so famous for it's honesty, integrity and adhering to the rule of law.

So nothing like Thailand, then? ????

15 hours ago, Retarded said:

Rules and Nigerian, it doesn't sound good mix and match. 

I am sure it is because they had the Nigerian Princes 100 million dollars he was trying to get someone to accept for him in another country, AKA the Nigerian Prince e-mail scam, but then wait there is no Nigerian Prince needing to launder fake money then is there....what a tangled web we weave when at first we try to deceive.

The flight was carrying skilled essential workers to run Nigerian OIL installations,it had all the clearances   due to that fact ,, so its either a cockup  or corruption

Their airline should be called Scamjet.

9 hours ago, VBF said:

Thank you Sir Humphrey ????

Is that supposed to mean something to a non-native English speaker who doesn’t live in a native English speaking country?