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NCAA Gives Travel Details of Terror Suspect
The Nigeria Civil Avia-tion Authority (NCAA) has confirmed that Abdulfarouk Umar Abdulmuttallab, the passenger who is a suspect in the attempt to bomb North-west-Delta Airlines flight 253 with 278 passengers and 11-member crew from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, is a Nigerian who boarded KLM flight out of Lagos on December 24, 2009 en-route Detroit, Michigan, USA via Amsterdam.According to the Director-General of NCAA, Dr Harold Demuren, the ticket information of Abdulmutallab showed that the e-ticket with which he traveled was purchased from KLM airport office in Accra, Ghana on December 16, 2009 and with USD 2,831 the ticket was paid for in cash. Demuren said the original routing of the trip was Lagos-Amsterdam-Detroit-Amsterdam-Accra. "However, the routing was later changed to Lagos-Amsterdam-Detroit-Amsterdam-Lagos," the Director-General said. He said the return journey of Abdulmutallab was booked for January 8, 2010 out of Detroit, to arrive Lagos January 9, 2010. "No contact address or telephone contact was given by the purchaser of the ticket at the time of purchase. KLM office in Lagos confirmed that the original ticket bought in Accra was cancelled and re-issued on the same 16th December, 2009," he said. Demuren also said passenger information document confirmed that the passenger personally checked-in at 2035 (8.35 pm) local time and this was also corroborated by the close-circuit television (CCTV) footage. "The passenger did not check in any luggage but was spotted with a shoulder bag. The passenger went through a normal checking process. His passport was scanned, his US Visa was scanned and the APIS (Advanced Passenger Information System) returned with no objection. Passenger was allotted seat number 20B on the Lagos-Amsterdam leg and seat 19A on the Amsterdam-Detroit leg," the Director-General explained. The Murtala Muhammed Airport security also has details of Abdulmutallab's passport and visa information. Demuren said the bombing suspect possessed a Nigerian Machine Readable Passport (MRP) issued on September 15, 2005 to expire on September 14, 2010 and the passport number is A3921640. According to the information from the passport, Abdul-mutallab has multiple entry US Visa issued in London, UK on June 16, 2008 to expire June 12, 2010. The NCAA Director-General said the suspect presented himself for immigration clearance with his Nigerian passport and the passport was scanned into Passenger Registration System, "confirming that passenger went through normal standard security screening procedure." "Thereafter, he passed through aviation security system comprising of walk through metal detector and the baggage X-ray screening machine. Passenger proceeded to the boarding gate where he went through secondary screening as confirmed by KLM airline security officials. At the close of the departure, the passenger was confirmed on board, his name was on the post departure manifest under serial number 2," Demuren also said. He said the Nigerian authorities are willing and prepared to assist in any investigation that would unravel the circumstances surrounding this incident. Posted by: Fred 2009-12-28 |
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