Investigations into the theft of the Direct Data Capture (DDC) machines meant for the forthcoming voter registration exercise have exposed the poor security procedures at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
THISDAY discovered that anybody, including possible terrorists, could have access to the airside of the airport as the aviation security officials allegedly accept bribes to admit people into the most secluded part of the airport.
THISDAY learnt that on a daily basis goods are stolen at the apron by a criminal gang made up of security operatives, ex-workers at the airport and criminals from outside and that the ground handling companies pay millions of naira in compensation every year to importers who lose their consignments to these thieves.
Authoritative sources close to the Nigeria Aviation Handling Company Plc (NACHO Aviance) disclosed that some of these criminals pay N1,500 to the security operatives at Gate 3 of the cargo section and they are allowed into the tarmac and given reflective jackets which ward off any kind of suspicion about them.
“When cargo aircraft lands, one of the two handling companies, NAHCO or SAHCOL (Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited) would handle (offload) the cargo. As soon as the cargo is offloaded these criminals remove the labels on the pallet (containers where the cargo is loaded and taken into the aircraft) so that the contents will not be identified.
“If these criminals know that the pallet contains cell phones or computers they will cut the pallet and steal the goods and because the cargo is usually large, somebody can hide in them while cutting one without being seen. When they take away the consignments from the pallets they find a way to move it to Shasha/Akuwonjo area of the airport till night when they will hand them over to their partners across the fence,” the source disclosed to THISDAY.
The source said the perimeter fencing at the airport is inadequate because in that Shasha area the fence had a passage dug under and parts of it had been broken, thus making it easy for people to sneak into the airport.
When airport police briefed newsmen on Friday on the arrest of four suspects who stole the DDC machines, one of the suspects, Lawal, told journalists that he was playing football at about 2.30 pm when he saw FAAN security vehicle drive into the bush and people from the van offloaded “some things” and covered them and then drove off. He ran off to inform the other suspects about the dropped goods.
The source also told THISDAY that apart from Gate 3, the gate near Jalobia Gardens, located near the Cargo Shed, is so porous that people could drive through it without encumbrances.
“In the past they used to attack cargo aircraft, but now they have limited their criminal activities to the busting of the pallets,” the source said.
THISDAY learnt that the State Security Service (SSS) which invited the management of FAAN, including senior security officials, NAHCO and SAHCOL officials, has learnt of the criminal gang and is investigating the incident.
“Those security people who came to work that night filled the register, so SSS is now narrowing the theft to those who worked that night. But I have to make it clear, it was a combined security operatives that worked that night, including aviation security, police and others,” he said.
A senior FAAN official said attention should be drawn to the fact that Customs carries out examination of cargo at the apron instead of at their bonded warehouse.
“Customs has a bonded warehouse where all the cargoes should be taken to and examined, but why do they examine cargoes at the apron, thereby exposing it to the vagaries of weather and theft? The owners of the cargo are always anxious to see that their goods are cleared quickly and would like to even pay to see that it is cleared. By refusing to go to the bonded warehouse built for them, Customs creates room for corruption. If you don’t create room for corruption, there will be no corruption. It is only perishable goods that Customs takes to the warehouse; others are examined at the apron,” he said.
The NAHCO source also said that because of the criminality going on at the airport and the inability of aviation security and police to stem it, the company established its own security apparatus to protect its own facilities.
Also SAHCOL spokesman, Basil Agboarumi, told THISDAY that the company has its own security apparatus, adding that the recently completed bonded warehouse built by SAHCOL has all the modern security gadgets to ensure that its customers’ goods are not pilfered, noting that the warehouse has the latest CCTV.
Agboarumi also observed that no matter what security system a private operator like SAHCOL employs, it is still subordinated to FAAN security system because it is in charge of the airports.
Customs Public Relations Officer, Odun Saturday, told THISDAY that Customs does not examine cargoes at the apron, except when the warehouse is full.
“The DDC machines had just arrived that night and placed at the apron. Before that time another consignment had arrived. There is no space inside the warehouse,” he said.
The General Manager, Public Affairs of FAAN, Mr. Akin Olukunle, said that the allegation that aviation security officials collect bribes to admit individuals to the airside of the airport was false.
“It is not possible because officers patrol the area and those who carry out the patrol exercise are not permanent. They are changed often. People who are allowed into the apron must have on-duty cards and you must register with FAAN,” he explained.
Olukunle, however, admitted that FAAN is having challenges and said that the Minister of Aviation, Mrs Fidelia Njeze, has said that there were efforts to fence many of the nation’s airports and that the project was contained in the 2011 budget.
An aviation security expert who spoke to THISDAY said that the whole airside area and the whole bushes near the Shasha/Akowonjo area need CCTV, regretting that there is no adequate patrol at anytime, whether in the night or in the day.
The source said: “That we have not had terror attacks is because Nigeria is not yet the target of terrorists.”