by Shakirat Abdulmajeed / 2006-02-28

The incident happened at about 1.15pm at the domestic terminal of the Murtala Muhammed airport, Lagos; as the airline, Eero Contractors was about to take off for Abuja.
According to a witness, the passenger simply identified as B. Mok, told the man seated next to him that all the passengers inside the aircraft needed to pray hard because he had a bomb with him.
This scared the passenger who informed the others. They called the attention of the cabin crew to the development.
All the 78 passengers inside the B737 were asked to disembark for re- screening while the entire luggage was taken to the Aero terminal for a second screening.
Confirming the incident yesterday, Aero Fixed Wing Manager, Captain Dapo Olumide, said the passenger (Mok) was taken away immediately by men of the State Security Services (SSS) for interrogation.
He said, the passengers were identified through the manifest and screened for the second time. The incident had been reported to the aviation regulatory authority.
According to Captain Olumide, no bomb was found on the man during the course of interrogation and the aircraft departed for Abuja after the re- screening exercise.
Captain Olumide said such incident is common, especially in the United States of America when a passenger can raise a false alarm to frustrate an airline to make it lose a day’s revenue.
Meanwhile, Daily Trust was reliably informed that the passenger Mok, was released around 4pm when the men of SSS found out that the man was a “loose speaker” and has no connection with terrorism.
Mok was said to have been working with an insurance company and was heard complaining that his boss may sack him because he has missed an appointment in Abuja.