Thieves cart away runway light at Lagos airport

(FILES) File photo dated on September 11, 2007 shows the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. Nigeran Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, was subdued by fellow passengers and crew aboard a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam on December 25, 2009 after he allegedly tried to detonate an explosive device as the plane descended toward Detroit. Dutch authorities confirmed that the detained suspect had flown from Nigeria to Amsterdam and then on to Detroit with a valid US visa. Nigerian officials said on December 26, 2009 that he had boarded a KLM flight from Lagos after undergoing normal security checks at the airport. AFP PHOTO / PIUS UTOMI EKPEI (Photo credit should read PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images)

Thieves have stolen the lighting system for one of the runways at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

A spokesperson of the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Abdullahi Yakubu-Funtua made the disclosure in a report by the BBC.

He said an investigation has now been launched to arrest the criminals and recover the missing runway lights.

The FAAN official noted that it is not clear when the system was stolen but there is a likelihood that airport workers conspired with the thieves to carry out the theft.

The ground lights were installed last November, which ended years of after-dusk restrictions on landing on that wing of the airport.

Domestic carriers were forced to divert to the international section and taxi about 4km (2.5 miles) back to the right terminal, which caused flight disruptions.

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