A regional ministerial aviation security conference opened in Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja Monday, with the US saying information sharing by all countries was the key to combating terrorism.
US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said all the countries of the world must come together to find an ‘international response’ to the international threat posed by by violent extremism.
The three-day meeting of African Ministers responsible for Aviation was convened in the wake of the 25 Dec. 2009 failed terrorist attack against a US airliner as it approached Detroit, Michigan, from Amsterdam by a Nigerian citizen, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
“The areas of collaboration include, information collection and analysis, information sharing and collaboration in passenger vetting, international security standards and development and development of infrastructure and screening technology,” Napolitano said.
In her speech at the opening, Nigeria’s Aviation Minister Fidelia Njeze said since the world had become a global village, any security lapse in one country would affect or spread to the other parts of the globe, if not efficiently and effectively nipped in the bud.
She said this makes it imperative to enhance international aviation security standards and measures to proactively respond to new and emerging threats in the aviation industry.
‘In view of the fact that air transportation system is very critical to the development of our economies, there is need to establish, approve and implement procedures and co-operative action that can strengthen the capacit ies to access and face civil aviation threats and risks which will assist in fighting the war against terrorism,’ Njeze said.
On his part, the Secretary-General of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Raymond Benjamin, said along with the development of efficient and counter measure, there was the need to improve ‘h ow we member states collect, manage and share security related information’, describing it as essential component in the fight agains t terrorism.
‘This is a very delicate issue. The sharing of sensitive threat information be tween states or within other legitimate parties must be completely secured,” he said. ”The Aviation Security Point of Contact (POC) NetworK, whic h was used successfully by ICAO to communicate information and recommendation to states following the December 25th incident, should be enh anced to perform such a role. I strongly encourage ICAO member states to join the POC network.’
He urged states that have not yet implemented ICAO-compliant machine readable pa ssport (MRPs), as required by 1 April 2010, to contact ICAO for assistance without further delay.
In a presentation at the meeting, Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren, urged all international airlines to have explosive detection devices in their aircraft while all airport s across the country must be fitted with an anti ramp security barriers.
These measures, he said, will help to curtail or nip in the bud the threats of terrorists using aviation as targets of their dastardly act.
Ministers of Transport and Aviation from over 16 countries are attending the meeting, organised by ICAO.
Other participants, apart from the speakers, include Director-General of Airport Council International (ACI), Angela Gitttins; Commissioner for Infrastructure a n d Energy, African Union (AU), Dr. Elam Ibrahim; Deputy Minister of Transport, Canada, Mark Gregory and the Secretary-General of African Airlines Association (AFRAA), Nick Fadugba.