UPDATE: Murtala Muhammed Airport Arrival Hall Heat Nearly Killed Us

By SaharaReporters, New York

SaharaReporters wishes to retract a story republished earlier from PM News claiming that the cooling system of a Delta Airline plane into Lagos had failed, forcing passengers coming out of Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA) to take off their clothes, some of them appearing in semi-nude condition.

This retraction follows the retraction of the story by PM News, and SaharaReporters wishes to do same.

Several passengers who were on the flight told SaharaReporters that it was the heat in the arrival hall of the airport, not the aircraft air conditioning system, that made them to take off their clothes and.

They said the heat in the luggage reclaim area as they awaited their luggage was unbearable, forcing them to depart the Customs Hall in ways that shocked relatives and other airport users.

Similarly PM News reporter Simon Ateba who penned the original story told SaharaReporters his newspaper has since found out that the initial reporting was erroneous, and that it will be corrected as early as possible.

SaharaReporters regrets the erroneous report.

The embattled Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, has spent several billions on airport renovation across the country, but little improvement has been noticed. The customary epileptic power supply and breakdown of infrastructure continues, with MMA retaining its poor reputation as the most hostile airport in the country through which to travel.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/murtala-muhammed-airport-arrival-hall-heat-nearly-killed-us-delta-passengers-say

I'm not surprised. I study in the US and anytime I go home during the summer the heat is just unbearable. And then coupled with the attitude of the immigration officers, it just becomes a nightmare.

what attitude? You are one of those who thinks the immigi officials should worship you because you just arrived from abroad? Give them your passport, get it stamped, move on, get your bag, face customs, simple. Which attitude?

Before rushing to publish rubbish you are expected to verify and double check your stories.
It became unprofessional and poor journalism to take back stories.
Learn better next time. Ok?

that is not an airport,for those who fly regularly ,you know what i mean,if youve been to uae airport terminal 1,2,3, heathrow,jfk and more. we got the money,so just claim they are smarter than others.bastarddd politicians and bunch of thievess

good job stella oduah!

game_rod: what attitude? You are one of those who thinks the immigi officials should worship you because you just arrived from abroad? Give them your passport, get it stamped, move on, get your bag, face customs, simple. Which attitude?

The attitude i'm referring to is the one i never see when i'm at Houston, JFK or heathrow. They greet you politely and ask questions clearly. They do not mumble and then get angry because you can not hear what they just said. And then the baggage carousels actually let your bags out on time without anyone tampering with the stuff you used your money to buy for your relatives back home.

game_rod: what attitude? You are one of those who thinks the immigi officials should worship you because you just arrived from abroad? Give them your passport, get it stamped, move on, get your bag, face customs, simple. Which attitude?

You're joking right?
You wish to tell me it's that easy to pass through Nigerian Immigration like that? Or even the Customs? Wake me up if I'm sleeping!!

You've never heard of those eediotts refusing people passage just because they refused to drop naira notes? Asking for the money as if it's their salary? The above scenario might apply to other country's Immigration officials, but definitely not Nigeria's!

Technically, these people are not supposed to dip hands into your luggage, but NO....Nigerian customs will even dip legs. one had the audacity to tell me I will miss my flight if I don't drop something! Nonsensical fellows

Were pics nah? So no naked pics for here? I no believe this report

you think is that easy all Nigeria forces are aggressive.

I rushed in here to see picture,*disappointed

OR Tambo int airport is found in africa.......MMA is found in africa too......... MMIA is dead to me

Is this that ehpot at onitsha that they agagu plane crashed

mumu dem be !! i dey sleep insside heat everyday i no shout #rubbish ... mofos

game_rod: what attitude? You are one of those who thinks the immigi officials should worship you because you just arrived from abroad? Give them your passport, get it stamped, move on, get your bag, face customs, simple. Which attitude?

Have you ever passed through the Nigerian Immigration and Customs at MMIA?
My brother,you go hear wehn.......!!!
Those people can make life so hard for someone,ask people who have.
Thanks....

Psychedelia: I came here to see nakked people.

Ijiego: I rushed in here to see picture,*disappointed

Haha... Didn't you see the source link?

When I saw the headline, I knew it was another propaganda... I was right after all, besides, the source link confirmed it..lol

Until i start flying then i will comment... Till then, bye for now!!!

Stella Oduah is working.

it is well

I sense a tribal war coming soonest.*follows d thread, Grabs front seat, where is my pop corn and lacasera? * let d war of words and finger pointing start.

ROSSIKE:

It is 'dead' to you, because like Sahara Reporters and other COMPOUND ILLITERATES, you cannot distinguish between an airport under normal operations, and an airport undergoing unprecedented, comprehensive re-modelling. If you stupi,d, dumb ingrates cannot bear to go through inconveniences while the airport is being remodelled, instead seeing it as an opportunity to spew your spiteful, ignorant bile, why don't you all do us a favour and stop using the airport entirely, and go sign up tp some other perfect country that will accept you, while the rest of us SANE, RATIONAL, UNBIASED NIGERIANS WITH BASIC COMMON SENSE calmly await the completion of the flagship airport and its subsequent commissioning.

Shame on you.

I hope I never see your username complaining about corruption again.

Look at common BUS TERMINAL in Thailand (a developing country with a GDP and population similar to Nigeria):
www.nairaland.com/attachments/1269125_busstation_jpg411c7b63975f2f0833c8a84e3ae587ca
www.nairaland.com/attachments/1269126_ticket_pct_01_01_jpg568578fd05fad1c2d72fa7f189c99e5b

Look at the "Renovated' Enugu Airport:
www.nairaland.com/attachments/1222982_23_jpg648b9906a614a4bb30c20591243c65ec
www.nairaland.com/attachments/1226306_AIRPORT_2_jpg34471968d3392912652738179eab5402
www.nairaland.com/attachments/1226305_AIRPORT_1_jpg7aef0a09caf63c681b8c88ce68301fb1

I will be waiting patiently to see what "unprecedented" and "comprehensive" remodeling is done at MMIA. While we are waiting for this miracle, "stupi,d, dumb ingrates" will be stripping unclad to escape the hellfire in our airports. Truly an international embarrassment.

For further comparison...

Airport in tiny Morrocco:


South Africa:
[img]http://www.afd.fr/webdav/site/afd/groups/Agence_Afrique_du_Sud/public/Dossier%20Assia%20Sidibe/Transport/O-R-Tambo-International-Airport.jpg[/img]

Tiny islands of Mauritius:


Ethiopia:


Egypt:


Rwanda:


Ghana:

Akshow: hmmmm see grammar. The war is on. One bullet! Waiting for reply for the opposition camp.

On the subject of renovation.
I wish to ask how long this project was earmarked to take.
It really is a discomfort for us regular fliers and we would appreciate not being insulted for saying so.
Thank you!

tellwsdom: Are we talking about the HEAT or the IMMIGRATION??

We talking about unclad photos

ALL D WHILE EVERY THING WAS GOING ON WELL IT WAS NEVER REPORTED, WHY IS IT THAT D SLIGHTEST HITCH IS BLOWN OUT OF PROPORTION? HUMAN CAN BREAK DOWN ANYTIME, HOW MUCH MORE MACHINES.

game_rod: what attitude? You are one of those who thinks the immigration officials should worship you because you just arrived from abroad? Give them your passport, get it stamped, move on, get your bag, face customs, simple. Which attitude?

What do u want them to verify, the arrival at MMIA is a living hell. no AC, sometimes even the luggage rotation stops due to no electricity.

By contrast, when you go through the departures (especially the wing from which KLM departs) you will need a raincoat or umbrella. I had the bad fortune of passing through there in November this year. The roof was leaking throughout the length of the check-in floor; with puddles of water all over the floor. It was an absolute disgrace. The whole airport is a disgrace. Light sockets pulled out of the wall, dilapidated furniture and equipment thrown over the floor and on dusty desks, non-functioning air conditioners, petty traders selling provisions (along the check-in route).

You need to witness the chaos at the immigration, when you come in, to believe it. Disorganized queues, with no one in control. Rude custom officials; one kept calling my name out of my passport (and I was standing just in front of him) until I joked to him not to wear it out. No doubt he was seeking an opportunity to ask for 'something'.

Don't get me started on the baggage collection.

I have travelled in and out of that airport for up to 4 times a year for the past six years and it is now the worst it has ever been. I have travelled twice through the international airport in Ghana and I also consider that to be a nightmare. However, when I passed through it in 2009 I felt Murtala Mohammed airport was better. By 2011 when I went again to Accra, the airport there was in better nick than the Murtala Mohammed airport. Since then, MMA has deteriorated further.

Surely, someone is in charge to ensure the rot is stopped. Or am I being overly optimistic?