BusinessGrappling With Security Breaches At Nation’s Airports

Grappling With Security Breaches At Nation’s Airports

BEVERLY HILLS, March 15, (THEWILL) – Stakeholders in the nation’s aviation industry have warned that if the frequent security breaches at the airports continue, it may lead to threat of lives and property, which may consequently affect the perception of the flying public. Penultimate week, armed bandits attacked workers of Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and that of Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) quarters in Kaduna, abducting about nine persons, including a family of six and a housewife with her two children.

The bandits had gained access to the quarters through the airport runway at midnight, storming into the apartment of their victims in a brazen manner. Last year, a 25-year-old man was caught at the runway of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, attempting to hide in the wheel-well of Air Peace aircraft. He was, however, arrested by Aviation Security of FAAN. Still in 2020, a similar incident occurred when a middle-aged man identified as Nigerien attempted to climb Azman Air aircraft on the same runway but was stopped and eventually arrested by security operatives.

Cases of unconfirmed reports of runway incursion abound across the airports, the latest being the Kaduna scenario. However, despite the bandits attack in Kaduna, FAAN has said it will not shut down the Kaduna International Airport.

Capt. Hamisu Yadudu, the Managing Director of the agency, told THEWILL that FAAN is working round the clock to ensure that security and safety are sustained at the airports.

Speaking at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos shortly after the bandits attack, and during the oversight function visit by the Senate Committee on Aviation, Yadudu lamented the attack on its staff quarters, but vowed that the management, the state government and the various security agencies would not relent in their efforts at ensuring safety of humans and equipment at all the airports across the country.

According to him, before the unfortunate attack, the management had beefed up security networks at all the nation’s airports, stressing that the current attack would not discourage it from clamping down on any heinous crimes anywhere within the sector.

He said: “This incident is entirely different from closing down the airport. It’s a security concern that we have at our staff quarters. A lot of our staff do not even live in these quarters. If there is a need for us to close, we will close it, but this is even far away from it.

“There is no need for that drastic action. Just a small percentage of our staff stay in the staff quarters; the rest are all living in the town. You can see that the staff quarters are fenced. We are taking appropriate measures, but as I said, we just have to improve to counter these challenges.

“The fence was broken, there are security measures. We have security personnel attending to the area, but somehow, somewhere, things happened and now it is time for us to counter as we have been doing always.

“Security is a race. Security challenges will always come and we will improve and on our own part, we keep improving to outsmart them. Anytime there is a breach of the security architecture, we will still do the same thing. Our staff can attest to this, the state government can attest to this and even the security agencies can tell you this.”

He insisted that FAAN had since 2020, further beefed up security at the various airports across the country, which had foiled attacks in the sector, maintaining that the agency in collaboration with the other security agencies and the Kaduna State Government would rise to the occasion.

In his own views, Sen. Smart Adeyemi, Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, advocated for state and local government policing as a way of enhancing the security architecture in and around the country

Lamenting the sordid security challenges, which had pervaded the country in recent times, Adeyemi said: “I think the time has come for Nigeria to evolve a system that will appreciate the size of the nation and the diversities. You don’t recruit one who graduated from University of Maiduguri for instance and you post him to Lagos to come and police. He doesn’t know the system and the areas. So, criminals can take advantage of that.”

In a bid to improve security in aviation industry, Adeyemi appealed to the Federal Government to make available special funding for the sector.

In his submission, CEO of Centurion Securities, Group Capt John Ojikutu (rtd), warned that FAAN and concerned security operatives should reinforce security at the airports.

Capt Ojikutu who revealed that aviation infrastructure is higher on the lists of terrorists targets for attacks pointed out that Nigeria requires a very urgent security directives from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to update airports emergency and airport security management programmes to tackle the trends of insecurity around our airports.

According to him, operators may request support from the military, especially the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) for arms’ support, stressing that the trend of attacks may be rehearsals of big things waiting to start happening

Explaining further, Capt Ojikutu said: “All the federal airports are expected to have Aviation security programmes approved by the NCAA. All federal airports are expected to have an airport security committee. If any airport is deficient in any of these, it would be serious negligence and the NCAA must take necessary enforcement action. These are not teething problems but part of age old traditional operation standards”.

A regular air traveller, Dr Isaac Mordi, said FAAN has done so well in most of the major airports, just as he observed that so many airports outside Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt are porous. According to Mordi, all airports should be given the same attention in terms of security so as not to give chances to criminals.

He said: “If you look at our airports, FAAN seems to have concentrated on some airports but this is not supposed to be so. All airports within the country need to be fortified against any form of invasion or encroachment.”

To Damilola Akinfenwa, another air passenger, a good security architecture will not only save life and properties but would also instill confidence in the flying public. She therefore advised that FAAN and authorities concerned do everything possible to enhance safety at all the airports in the country.

Meanwhile, NCAA and FAAN have been making efforts to increase collaboration with all relevant agencies to strengthen security at the nation’s airports. A statement issued recently by Mr Sam Adurogboye, the NCAA General Manager and Public Affairs, confirmed the partnership arrangement. Adurogboye explained that the collaboration was to forestall a similar occurrence of the security breach that happened at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA).

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