Minister of State, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika
Top security officials from the Nigeria Air Force (NAF), the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Aviation Security (AVSEC) at the weekend held emergency meeting on how to fortify security at the nation’s airports.
THISDAY learnt that the federal government has ordered security upgrade at the airports, especially the international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and Enugu.
Top security official told THISDAY on Sunday, “We have set up a task force to upgrade security at the airports. We held emergency meeting after the stowaway incident and we are reviewing activities of airport workers, especially at the airside of the airport and this include baggage handlers, security personnel, cleaners and others that have access to the sterile areas of the airports,” the official said.
Also the acting General Manager, Corporate Affairs of FAAN, Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu told THISDAY on Sunday that the airside patrol has been intensified and all access points to the security restricted areas are now manned and properly controlled “to ensure unauthorised persons do not gain access to the airside.”
“Airlines have been informed to take seriously the issue of guarding their aircraft, especially at night. The AVSEC is on top of the situation,” Mrs. Yakubu said.
At a breakfast meeting held after the report of the stowaway incident in Lagos by aviation security experts, the Chief Executive Officer of Centurion Securities and former Commandant of Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, Group Captain John Ojikutu (retd) accused NCAA of being responsible for the security infractions at the airports
He therefore urged the regulatory authority to immediately review all the security profiles of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
Ojikutu noted that the frequent stowaway incidents was giving Nigeria a bad name in the aviation circles and that the frequency of its occurrence speaks a lot about the nature of security at Nigeria airports.
He lamented that there were too many entrances to Nigerian airports, which, according to him, people use to gain access to the airside of the airports and the aircraft, regretting that most Nigerian airports don’t have perimeter fence.
However, spokesman of NCAA, Sam Adurogboye agreed that stowaway incidents border on laxity of security apparatus at the airports, but it is not one agency’s responsibility to protect the airports; that it is a collective responsibility.
“All agencies in aviation and, of course, airline operators have roles to play. It is an acceptable fact that safety of an aircraft lies with the owner and without shifting any blame, aircraft is parked at the airport owned and maintained by FAAN to which parking fees are paid by the airlines. It is true NCAA carries oversight functions but roles are clearly delineated,” Adurogboye said.
THISDAY
