The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), has disclosed that over four persons are arrested every day at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, (MMIA) Lagos for attempting a security breach.
This is also as the authority disclosed that aviation security at the airport is proactive but that even as FAAN puts up measures to curb incursions into the airports, new technology or improvisation to beat the security are often introduced and when found out the agency learns from it to ensure it is not repeated.
Speaking after inspecting ongoing works at Runway 18L and reacting to questions bordering on the recent stowaway and other security issues. Rabiu Yadudu managing director, FAAN described the security issue as a race and that despite the daily wins, very few incidents occur but that has not deterred the authority from it’s continued security upgrades.
Yadudu said, “Aviation security is a very important component that is reactive. Anytime there is a violation, we learn something and make sure it does not happen again. Across the world, security challenges are all over but in FAAN what we hardly tell people is that every day one to five people are arrested and unfortunately, it is maybe the 0.000001 percent that escapes and is successful but we are working on it.
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“It is a race. We are always trying to be on top of the race but sometimes something like this happens and thwarts all the work and that is why we say there is a function of security that is reactive.”
FAAN has ordered for and is awaiting delivery of some visual and thermal cameras and other security equipment including motorized surveillance equipment to address security at the nation’s major airports.
Yadudu, FAAN has identified various gaps over the years and has put in place solutions for those problems but because FAAN is an agency of government, unlike the private sector, some of those solutions take time to acquire and implement.
Yadudu said, government processes and due process are necessary and also matter in all the authority does.
“A private airport can have a problem today and by tomorrow, it can deploy solutions to it. We know the solutions to the problems we have, but we have to ensure that the due processes are followed for us to implement them.
“FAAN is on the verge of procuring visual and thermal infrared cameras – visuals to cover the airside areas for a whole day. This will cover within an 8km radius, which is 16km in diameter,” Yadudu said.
