The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Airport Security and Drug Trafficking, Captain Shehu Osman Iyal, has said that international flight operations would soon commence at the rehabilitated Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa.
Captain Osman Iyal gave this indication Wednesday when he led other members of the committee on a courtesy visit to the Rivers State Governor, Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi at Government House, Port Harcourt.
Captain Osman Iyal, who is also the senior special assistant to the president on aviation, said the importance of the Port Harcourt International Airport as the gateway to the South-South and South-East cannot be over emphasised.
He explained that since the inauguration of the committee on October 23, 2007, by President Umaru Musa Yar�Adua, the committee has carried out its assignment with dispatch, and has visited the four airports covered in its terms of reference.
The chairman said that the committee had visited Lagos, Kano, Abuja airports before arriving Port Harcourt, and has held interactive sessions with the stakeholders on how to enhance smooth operations at the various airports, especially the international ones.
Captain Osman Iyal said they where impressed with the support and assistance of the Rivers State Government in ensuring a hitch-free operations at the Omagwa International Airport, and would recommend the commencement of international flights at the airport.
He noted that increase in cases of drug trafficking, security lapses and loss of luggage at the various airports, which constituted disgrace to the image of the country, was responsible for the setting up of the committee.
However, the chairman disclosed that since they moved into action, cases of luggage loss has become a thing of the past, but the problems facing the committee were the lack of screening machines and the separation of traffic for international and local wings at the airports.
He, therefore, solicited for continued assistance of the Rivers State Government in the provision of security vehicles, screening machines and other necessary logistics that would facilitate the work of the security operatives.
Also speaking, the Director General of NDLEA and member of the committee, Otunba Lanre Ipinmiso stated that the recent discoveries on the quantity of cocaine available in the country were worrisome and could be responsible for the increase in violent crimes in the country.
Otunba Ipinmiso, disclosed that their visit to the Port Harcourt International Airport has shown that it does not have any screening machine, and appealed to the state government to assist in its provision as the authorities plan to start international flights as well as requested for vehicles for NDLEA officials.
Responding, the Rivers State Governor, Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, urged the committee to prevail on the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), to allow international airline operations from Port Harcourt to save the people from the South-South and South-East the agony of going through Lagos before travelling abroad.
Governor Amaechi called for proper fencing as the first step in checking intruders to the airport and its facilities, and also appealed to the airline operators to employ Rivers indigenes because meaningful engagement would reduce crime wave in the Niger Delta.
Hon. Amaechi, noted that the state government made available the sum of N2 billion to the federal authorities to accelerate the pace of rehabilitating the airport, and assured of his administration�s preparedness to provide more assistance to the airport and the operators, especially in the provision of vehicles to NDLEA staff and screening machine to ensure smooth operations.
He explained that the state would continue in its decision to be good hosts to federal establishments located in the state, and wished the committee success in the discharge of its assignment.