The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, says some private aircraft operating in Nigeria are being used for money laundering, drug trafficking and other illegal activities.
Keyamo said this in Abuja on Thursday, while e inaugurating a Ministerial Taskforce Committee to checkmate illegal chartered operations in the country.
Though the minister did not mention the names of the airlines, he asserted that these illegal activities have made the sector lose billions of dollars and raised serious security concerns.
The minister also said that some of those involved in the illegal activities were those who acquired licenses for non-commercial flights operations but go against the stipulated agreement of the licenses.
Keyamo while addressing the committee members, directed that they take inventory of all non-commercial flights operators, investigate all professional licenses and checkmate their authenticity as well as recommend disciplinary measures against airlines found culpable.
The eight-man committee is chaired by the Chief Executive Office of Aero Contractors, Ado Sanusi, and the committee is expected to report all findings to the minister within the next three months.
