Nigeria has raised the security alert level at the airports as part of measures against a backlash over Monday’s killing of terrorist kingpin Osama bin Laden.
Passengers are subjected to intense primary and secondary screening at the airports
Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Richard Aisuebeogun said yesterday that all security agencies at the airports, including the State Security Services (SSS), Immigration, the Police, Customs, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA), are collaborating to ensure that there is no breach.
Plain clothes security officials are carrying out surveillance duties around the airports to ensure that there are no unauthorised movements. The FAAN boss said 138 persons have recently been arrested around the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, over unauthorised movement. They are to face trial.
Aisuebeogun said many police check points had been erected around the airport and that aviation authorities have focused on intelligence gathering and surveillance. He said: “Security is a different thing, as you all know. It is made up of several layers. From the aviation point of view, we are working very hard, collaborating with all security agencies to raise the alert levels in Nigeria, with a view to identifying the criminal elements. We have gone far to ensure that the agencies saddled with the task are fully manning key points at the airports by providing additional surveillance and ensuring that passengers comply with different levels of screening.”
Nigeria is ready for the safety operations audit to be carried out by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) this month, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority Director General Dr Harold Demuren said yesterday.
FAAN has completed airport perimeter fencing, in addition to putting in place the process that will lead to the certification of the airports in Lagos and Abuja.
Demuren spoke during an assessment tour of aviation facilities at the Lagos Airport. He said the deficiencies identified during the 2006 ICAO audit in Nigeria had been fixed.
May52011