By Dipo Olowookere
Authorities of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has apologised to Air Peace Airlines and its passengers over the delay in landing caused by a herd of cattle, which strayed onto the runway of Akure Airport on Saturday morning.
The Air Peace plane took off from Lagos on Saturday and was to stop at the Akure Airport in Ondo State, but because the cows were on the runway, the aircraft could not land on time, waiting mid-air for over 15 minutes before eventually landing.
The incident, which caught the attention of the Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, generated criticisms from Nigerians, who called on authorities to tame the activities of herders in the country.
Corporate Communications Manager of Air Peace, Mr Chris Iwarah, explained in a statement on Saturday that, “Flight P4 7002 from Lagos had to delay landing into Akure Airport on Saturday when the pilot-in-command sighted cows on the runway at about 12.15pm.
“On being alerted by control tower, aviation security personnel of the FAAN (FAAN AVSEC) quickly intervened and cleared the runway.
“The flight was eventually cleared to land after about seven minutes. Our guests on board were all calm while the delay lasted.”
Reacting to the incident, the General Manager, Corporate Affairs at FAAN, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, apologised to Air Peace Airlines in a statement.
She assured travellers and the general public that efforts were already ongoing to close the gap that aided the unfortunate incident.
“However, normalcy was restored quickly, as officers of the aviation security department quickly dispersed the cows from the runway and the aircraft was cleared for landing,” she said.
Aduragbemi Omiyale 
Modupe Gbadeyanka