The Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Kabir Mohammed has said that the agency has adopted measures to tighten security at the airside of the Murtala Muhammed International Airports (MMIA), Lagos.
This was in reaction to the recent theft of airfield lighting at the Runway 18R, known as the international runway, which has not been in use because of on-going rehabilitation work.
He disclosed to THISDAY that part of the investigation is to expose possible insider threat, to identify them and prevent them from future incursion at the airside of the airport.
Mohammed said that there is reinforcement of security operatives and more patrol vehicles have been deployed to ensure all night patrol of every part of the airside of the airport, which include 24 hours monitoring of the two runways of the nation’s busiest airport.
THISDAY learnt that after the first part of the system was stolen, FAAN management directed the Head of Electrical Services to remove the remaining part of the airfield system but this directive was not obeyed and that remaining part of the airfield lighting was stolen after the first theft.
This led to the suspension of 11 officials whose duties are connected to protecting the stolen facility, the airside and who have access to the runway and environs.
These include Chief of Airport Security, Head of Department (HOD), Electrical, HOD, Crime, HOD Airfield operations and one acting General Manager, Aviation Security (AVSEC), HOD, Environment and others.
Mohammed told THISDAY he directed that investigation should be carried out on the theft, but when the report was submitted to the FAAN management, the Managing Director noticed that it was only the junior workers that were indicted and he gave another directive to the Director of Human Resources (DHR) to set up a committee to carry out comprehensive investigation into the incident.
Meanwhile, FAAN management, which carried out inspection on the projects under construction at the Lagos airport on Monday, further fortified security at the airside, known as sterile area.
THISDAY also learnt that FAAN security, which is a joint operation of security operatives from Air Force, Aviation Security and Nigeria Police, patrol the breadth of the runway many times every night.
The Managing Director of Flight and Logistics Solutions Limited, Amos Akpan, told THISDAY that he has spent 35 years working at the Lagos airport and during this period, theft of equipment and facilities has always occurred airside but contrary to some reports, no theft has taken place recently before the airfield lighting incident.
According to Akpan, when such thefts take place the first suspects are the workers who are connected to what is stolen by their call of duty and this makes it logical to investigate them.
“Historically, I have been in this airport for 35 years and sensitive airport materials had been stolen at various times and there is always conjecture that it has to be an insider that understands the workings of such equipment. Of course, it cannot be stolen by people who do not understand the mechanism, so it is believed that those who steal such equipment are those who understand how it works. This conjecture has never been verified and nobody has gone to jail. The people that work around the airside are the staff of FAAN and contractors who install the equipment who work with agency staff and the contractors carry out post installation maintenance,” Akpan observed.
He also noted that people who have access to the airside of the airport, which is highly restricted, are people who are profiled by the Aviation Security, noting that no one should be allowed to access the airside without profiling.
“So, they are usually profiled with police record of clearance. So, the basic platform is that everybody has been profiled and most of the equipment are special in the sense that they are not the kind of things you can get out and sell to anybody. They are either recycled back into the system or sold but they are highly technical usage facilities. You cannot sell runway light for home use, so you can sell it to facility that can accommodate its usage. There are not many places they can be sold; so those who stole them must be those who know how it works,” he said.
Akpan also remarked that anyone who stole such equipment must have worked at the airside or has access to the airside; so, it becomes pertinent that those workers who have access to the airside must be investigated in addition to the contractors who install the equipment.
THISDAY investigation revealed that the theft was possible because Runway 18R was not in use so attention was not being paid to it; otherwise the theft would have been noticed by security or even air traffic controllers at the tower because the lights are supposed to be illuminated if the runway was functional.
THISDAY also gathered that the last time there was incursion was about three years ago when in response to incessant security breaches FAAN introduced new security apparatus to further secure the nation’s busiest gateway.
THISDAY learnt that FAAN has illuminated the airside and runway areas of the airport and in addition, there is watchtower facility that will capture every part of the airport and monitor every movement, which is billed to be completed soon.
