Flights were grounded in Akure Airport, Ondo State, on Monday as a crater was discovered on the runway of the airport.

It was alleged that the crater was dug on the runway by unknown persons suspected to be hoodlums.

The development was said to have forced the management of the airport to close the runway, preventing flight from taking off or landing in the airport.

Consequently, passengers who wanted to travel by air through the Akure Airports were unable to do so.

An airport source said officials of the airport authority discovered the hole in the night and as such closed the runway.

The source said, “The hole was discovered during the early morning check by the security of the airport. We are yet to know those behind it. I think the intention of the miscreants was to cause plane crash in the airport.

“The security operatives have been invited to see the place. The government has to deploy the security agents to the airport so as not to allow the miscreants cause havoc there.”

Spokesperson of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, Henrietta Yakubu, stated that cracks were discovered on the runway during the routine checks on Monday morning.

Yakubu said the cracks had not affected flight operations in the airport.

She added that repair works had begun on the cracked portions of the runway.