ICRC visits Lagos Airport car park, insists on safety of vehicles

Following media reports on incidences of vehicle vandalism at the Seymour Aviation Multi-level Car Park at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, the management of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has visited the parking facility.

Multiple vandalisation of vehicles was said to have been recorded at the facility as motorists and travellers reportedly complained about forced entries into their parked cars.

In order to assess the facility and seek solutions, the ICRC officials led by Acting Director-General Mr. Michael Ohiani visited the multi-level parking facility.

The visit was a joint monitoring inspection by the ICRC and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to assess the safety situation of vehicles parked by the general public.

In a statement signed by Manji Yarling, the ICRC’s acting Head, Media & Publicity, the agency said its visit revealed that only one incident had been reported, adding that the victim, whose Lexus GX 460 was vandalized had been compensated and the missing vehicle accessories replaced.

Ohiani who was taken on a tour of the facility, however, cautioned the concessionaire Seymour Aviation Limited on the safety of vehicles.

He said vehicles could not be said to be ‘Parked at Owners’ Risk’, at the facility because car parking service is the primary service being provided by the concessionaire at a fee.

“If I park my car it is not at my own risk, provided I pay — if I come here and I park and I do not pay, it is a different ball game." the Acting DG said.

Ohiani advised the concessionaire to invest in the Parking Guidance System (PGS), a technology where car owners upon making payment, are allotted specific slots on a particular floor with the assistance of smart cameras.

He also charged the airport authority as well as the concessionaire to expand the CCTV camera coverage to cover blind spots, and also increase the number of persons on physical surveillance.

Responding to questions from the acting DG, the representative of the FAAN, Sadiku Abdulkadir Rafindadi, said some of the news stories about the airport were not a true reflection of the situation on the ground.

He said following the incident, the FAAN recommended some measures to curb future occurrences.

According to him some of the measures include the expansion of smart CCTV coverage at the car park to cover blind spots, connection of the camera feeds to the MMA International Terminal 2 CCTV network, and improvement of physical surveillance as well as increasing the number of security personnel at the facility.

Other measures include Intelligence sharing with airport security, prompt reportage of incidents at the car park, addressing other pending cases of vehicle vandalism among others.