27th June, 2011
There was tight security today at the Presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, as President Goodluck Jonathan visited.
The visit is on the heels of another bomb blast in Maiduguri, Northern Nigeria, that killed scores of people yesterday.
The bomb blast in Maiduguri which was suspected to have been carried out by members of the dreaded terrorist group, Boko Haram, occurred after a similar attack killed two persons and injured many around the Police Headquarters in Abuja on 16 June.
It was learnt that the president had come to commission a newly completed industry in Ogun state, Southwest Nigeria.
At the Lagos airport, several teams of mobile policemen, anti-terrorist squads and regular policemen were present.
Our correspondent observed that anti-bomb detector devices were deployed at the airport, while the Nigerian airforce, the State Security Service and other security agencies manned strategic positions.
Policemen guarded the presidential lounge from the airport road down to all all the vicinity around the lounge.
Airport users heading towards the presidential lounge were screened before gaining access into the restricted area.
The Governor of Lagos and Ogun States, Babatunde Fashola and Ibukunle Amosun were also present at the Lagos airport.
Speaking with journalists, Amosun hinted that residents living in Ogun State but paying taxes in Lagos will soon start paying them in Ogun.
“There are a lot of people living in Ogun, but paying taxes to Lagos,” Amosun said as he was asked what will define his first hundred days in office.
“Wait for another two days, we will make everything public on Wednesday,” he said.
Jonathan and Fashola did not address journalists.
—Simon Ateba