Construction of the Makurdi airport cargo terminal in Nigeria has been stopped due to security concerns. This is according to the Minister of Aviation, Dr Samuel Ortom.
The minister said that work on the cargo terminal was stopped to allow for more input from security experts to tackle the security issues adding that consultation was still ongoing to restart the project.
Dr Samuel explained that the airport was a military facility while other cargo terminals undergoing remodelling across the country were civil airports. According to Ortom, anything concerning security issues cannot be ignored and will be better handled by security experts.
“The airport in Makurdi was a military airport; after we started work on the cargo terminal in Makurdi, our attention was drawn to some security issues and so, we had to stop. We all know that security issues are better mapped by security experts and they cannot be ignored; however, we are in consultation with them to see how we can continue,” he said.
“We have already invested in the place and we are still discussing with the military authorities there and as soon as we conclude the discussion, work will continue,” Ortom said.
He noted that work was progressing well at various cargo terminals undergoing remodelling across the country. Ortom said that phase one of the projects had been completed with phase two ongoing while phase three of some of the projects is also ongoing.
