THE Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) have reached an agreement to decrease the presence of military and para-military personnel inspecting passengers at Nigeria’s international airports.
Speaking with newsmen on Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Lagos, FAAN’s Managing Director, Olubunmi Kuku, emphasized that both organizations had decided to implement immediate and long-term solutions to solve security problems at the Airport.
She said there were also preparations in place to guarantee that security guards watch passenger bags using closed-circuit television, or video surveillance, in several coordination rooms located around the nation’s international airports.
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“On the issue of checking baggage, it bothers me so much. That was the first thing about which I inquired when I assumed office. As far back as 2011 and 2012, when I was in the industry, it was something I worked on with the former minister.
“It goes beyond FAAN because a lot of those agencies including Nigeria Customs Service, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service-NAQS, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission-EFCC, we have almost everybody at the airports. We had Executive Order 001 during the Buhari administration to move them out under the then Vice President’s office. Now, we have the National Single Window. I have personally sat with the NSA over the last five weeks to have conversations with him as to how we will streamline the facilitation.
Kuku noted that they had put in place both short-term interventions where the number of agencies at the airports would be reduced and the long-term intervention where the agencies would come to the joint coordination room and watch the cameras to make some findings.
“Those who care more about the luggage can proceed to the area where we load the bags. Instead of upsetting other passengers, they will have greater visibility in this way.”
On opening passengers’ baggage, she noted that it sprang up a couple of years ago when a lot of countries had issues with scanning devices that were coming from certain countries and, as such, required secondary screening.
Kuku added that the authority is trying to have dual-view cameras and put them and explosive devices a bit farther so that secondary checks can be conducted without opening people’s bags while pleading for individuals to be patient with the authorities.
Fatimah Quadri is a Journalist and a Fact-checker at The ICIR. She has written news articles, fact-checks, explainers, and media literacy in an effort to combat information disorder.
She can be reached at sunmibola_q on X or fquadri@icirnigeria.org