Authorities of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) at the Murtala Mohammed Airport Terminal 1 (MMA1), on Wednesday, raided newspaper vendors and impounded copies of national dailies.
The incident, The Guardian learnt, was alleged to be measures to rid the terminal of illegal and unregistered businesses, and as a security measure against infiltration of terrorists into Lagos.
The vendors, who confirmed the incident, said the measure would kill their businesses, as they don’t have the wherewithal to meet the requirements for a legal registration, which includes levies and rents.
The head of vendors in the terminal, Wale Adesina, said the development was troubling as the vendors were taken unawares. “I have been to the Terminal Manager’s office today and he insists that we must have a legal backing to operate in the premises. I don’t know how to go about that. And we all know that the online media is competing with newspapers; passengers confirm to us that they read online.”
A distribution agent with one of the national dailies, Oke Olawale, said vendors do not know their fate in the terminal and there was no guarantee that they would be safe even after they might have legally registered.
According to him, “one of my vendors came to call me this morning that copies of newspapers they were selling at the airport has been seized. I came here and saw the man in charge, who told me he doesn’t want to see any vendor at the terminal. There were other people here, who sell different wares, but the man didn’t touch them. They later carried the papers to the Chief Security Officer’s (CSO) office. He has copies of all the national dailies. We are trying to get it back because the media houses have policies that would hurt us if we don’t sell.”
When contacted for comments, the CSO, who the vendors alleged was in possession of the seized newspaper copies, said he was not aware that papers were seized, but that the terminal manager, from whom all orders are taken, was in a better position to speak on the matter. All efforts to react the terminal manager proved abortive.
