The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has said it has absolutely nothing to do with the ladder via which Aero Contractors airline disembarked passengers from its Bauchi flight last weekend.

FAAN said the airport was not managed by it but by the Bauchi State government.

The clarification, according to its spokesman, Yakubu Dati, became imperative because of insinuations attributing the use of unauthorised equipment to FAAN.

“Without prejudice to the directive given by the minister of state for Aviation for investigation into the cause of the incident, we wish to clarify that Aero Contractors’ use of unauthorised equipment (ladder) to disembark its passengers does not have anything to do with FAAN.

“The Bauchi Airport is managed by the Bauchi State government and FAAN only provides statutory services at the airport, such as aircraft marshalling, aviation security services and fire cover.

“The Authority does not provide handling services for Aero Contractors and therefore does not understand why it should be held responsible for the non-provision of appropriate equipment for passenger disembarkation.

“We also do not understand why the absence of marshallers on the apron, as claimed by the airline, could cause the use of unauthorised equipment for the disembarkation of passengers from the aircraft.

“We urge the public to discountenance any story linking FAAN, in any way, with the use of unauthorised equipment by Aero Contractors at the Bauchi Airport.”