A man has been arrested after he climbed onto the wing of an aeroplane as it was preparing for takeoff from an airport in Nigeria, authorities said.

The incident occurred on an Azman Air flight at the Murtala Muhammed International airport in Lagos city on Friday (Jul 19) morning, reports CNN.

Later Azman Air issued a statement saying the man, who is yet to be identified, walked towards the aircraft on the runway when it was preparing for takeoff.

However, the pilot slowed down after spotting the man and later turned off the engine as he continued to wander around the aircraft, said the statement.

At one point, he jumped onto a wing of the aircraft and tried to get into the cabin. The pilot then reported the incident over the radio, according to the airline.

However, the incident did not delay the flight which was headed to Port Harcourt in Nigeria's Niger Delta. The flight took off after another round of security checks, the airline said.

Video footage, captured by a passenger on the aircraft, shows the man moving on the wing of the plane while panicked passengers were calling the crew members to open the exit doors.

Nigeria's airport authority in a statement said the man has been taken into custody for questioning.