AVSEC officers beaten by Customs personnel
One of the major challenges faced by the aviation sector is failure of the Nigerian society to recognise the sector’s special peculiarities. This often leads to crisis and disagreements between aviation personnel and members of the society, especially security operatives.
For example, while Nigeria has Consumer Protection Council (CPC), aviation has its equivalent, the Consumer Protection Directorate (CPD), an agency approved by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to serve as an umpire between airlines and passengers. So, there is always a conflict when the CPC wades into the affairs of aviation as in the case of Turkish Airlines that failed to fly in luggage along with the passengers and Egypt Air that allegedly maltreated a young Nigerian passenger.
This is because CPC ought to recongise the peculiar situation in aviation, which tends to replicate agencies to specially attend to aviation issues. And this is recognised worldwide.
In the same vein, the aviation sector has Aviation Security (AVSEC) with regulations by ICAO. In many countries AVSEC works with other security agencies but it is only AVSEC that is recognised by ICAO. Also, as a highly regulated industry, it is only AVSEC that has the right to access the airside of the airport. In Nigeria, it is only AVSEC that has the necessary aviation security training in accordance to ICAO Security Annexe that stipulates security regulations at airports.
What this means is that when it comes to airport security, other security agencies should subsume themselves to AVSEC command and control. Aviation security observers said the prohibited areas of the airports are only accessed by AVSEC personnel, but on special arrangement, other security agencies can have access to the airside of the airport. This is where there has been a lot of conflict. There have been reports of disagreements between AVSEC and Customs officers over the refusal of the later by AVSEC to access the airside.
Industry security experts are of the view that this fact has not been driven home to other security operators at the airport, from the Nigerian police, to Customs, Immigration and the Nigeria Air Force; so over the years there has been a growing conflict among the security operatives at the airports and sometimes there are obvious muscle flexing about who should be in charge and why some security operatives are relegated.
This has caused a lot of conflicts in recent times and some of such documented conflicts involved officials of Nigerian Customs Service and staff of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). Such conflicts have also manifested between the Nigerian Air Force personnel and FAAN staff and these resulted in exchanges that ended in violence.
Recently, an official of Nigerian Customs Service seconded to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos sprayed teargas into the eyes of a staff of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) following the latter’s refusal to allow him follow exit gate to the cargo terminal.
THISDAY learnt that the Customs staff simply identified as H. Daboh who was in mufti and without On-duty Card (ODC), was aggrieved that the FAAN official attempted to stop him from accessing the Monument Gate that leads to the Cargo and Hajj Terminal through the exit gate, instead of the entrance gate.
Also, last year two Nigerian Customs officers who illegally attempted to get on the tarmac of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport without proper accreditation got angry and attacked a security official attached to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (AVSEC), who wanted to stop them. This resulted in a chaos, as the Customs officials mobilised more of their colleagues to assault FAAN security officials. At least five security officials were severely injured.
Aviation security expert said NCAA and FAAN should carry out induction for any security operative from Immigration, Customs, police, and even the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) transferred to the airports on the role played by AVSEC and expected roles each organisation should play at the airport and they should be made to understand that as far as airports are concerned, the other security operatives play complementary roles, but the security of the airport is fully the responsibility of AVSEC.
The CEO of Scope Centre, an aviation security company, Adebayo Babatunde said other security operatives like the police and the Nigerian Air Force are allowed to be at the airport and reinforce security because AVSEC officials are not allowed to carry arms, noting that in some countries AVSEC officials carry arms. He added that although ICAO rule does not stipulate that AVSEC officials should carry arms, but every country localises the regulation as it suits local realities. So it behooves on the government to decide if AVSEC officials should be carrying arms so that other security operatives may not be needed at the airport, and even if they are, they should not resort to fracas between AVSEC officials whenever their excesses are questioned.
CULLED FROM THISDAY
