Runway lighting stolen from MMA, 9 months after it was installed

The lighting system for one of the runways of the Murtala Muhammed Airport has been stolen just months after it was installed, BBC reports.

This was confirmed by an airport authority spokesman, Yakubu Funtua.

Funtua says an investigation has been launched to "arrest the criminals [and] recover what's missing".

This time of the theft couldn't be ascertained at the time of filing this report, however, there are rife reports that some airport workers were involved in the act.

The stolen items were only installed in November, ending 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, BBC reports.

Mr Funtua told the BBC that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria will "block all loopholes to prevent [a] future occurrence".

The criminals took advantage of the fact that the runway had been closed for months for maintenance to take the lighting system, an unnamed source told Nigeria's Punch newspaper.

The source blamed a "syndicate" of workers at the airport along with "accomplices from outside" for a series of thefts.