AFTER some top level talks between the Nigerian government and its United Kingdom counterpart, the Virgin Atlantic aircraft which was impounded on Wednesday after one of its crew members was arrested with cocaine, was released yesterday.
The plane left with its passengers about 3.00 p.m.
The Guardian learnt that President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was upset by the incident, especially because the suspect, Muhammed Ibrahim Wudil, is a Nigerian and that the embarrassment came just about the time that the country is on an image-cleansing drive.
Sources told The Guardian that the release of the aircraft followed intervention in the matter by British authorities.
The Nigerian representative of the Virgin Group, John Adebayo, said that the scandal had seriously put a question mark on the Federal Government’s determination to provide security at the nation’s airports.
The airline’s chief stated that the efforts of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Senior Special Assistant to President Yar’Adua, Captain Shehu Iyal, that more Nigerians be employed by international carriers might have been defeated with the last development.
He, however, apologised to Nigerians and the passengers for the action of the suspect. “We are sorry for the inconveniences caused by Wudil not only to Nigerians but to the airline. We do not condone this action, it is condemnable,” he said.
He described the suspect as the best crewmember of the carrier, adding that the plane had been cleared, with all the papers checked.