With threats of possible attack of Boko Haram on airports, aviation security experts have asked the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), airlines and other private companies at airports to urgently review the background check and profile of all staff in order to forestall any unexpected attack.
The Department of State Services (DSS) had on Saturday, arrested a 14-year-old boy, Sulaiymon Abdulrahman (a.k.a Sunday Ajayi), who confessed to have been monitoring travellers’ movements, passenger screening, boarding procedures and other processes at the departure and arrival halls of Abuja Airport.
The DSS also claimed that the suspect said he was directed to spy on the installation and pass information on travellers’ movement, boarding procedures and other processes at the airport.
To this end, aviation security experts are saying there is the possibility of some other members of the deadly group at some other airports who may have also infiltrated the workers or plan to mingle with passengers at various levels.
John Ojikutu, a retired airport commandant, said that experience had shown that those intending to carry out attacks at airports had always been familiar with the workings of the system, either by pretending to be travellers or having one or two of the workers as friend and informants whom they would usually go to visit.
“I suggest that FAAN review the background checks on all airports staff working in the security controlled areas immediate, considering the latest development and reports on one of the international airlines abroad.
“Combing the airports for possible threat of Boko Haram is a panic measure which is not enduring. My suggestion for background checks on all airports’ staff is based on the possibility of having Nigerians in ISIS or Boko Haram members who could be threats or risks to civil aviation or who should have been on the watch list or no-fly list as passenger or cabin crew.
“My suggestions are also based on previous experiences of Al-Qaeda and ISIS operatives who got employed as aircraft loaders at some US airports few years ago, and a Nigerian who got employed as a security supervisor at New Jersey airport with stolen identity of a dead man. These are worth considering now by FAAN, all airlines and private operators,” he said.
Also speaking, Bayo Babatunde, CEO of Avscon Security Limited, said government should immediately intensify screening of out-bound and in-bound passengers with latest technological facilities such that would not tamper with bio-metrics information of passengers no matter the situation.
He said airport security should also liaise with DSS to know the names of person on watch list, adding that terrorists were very smart and would want to beat all intelligence to strike.
“You can imagine how long the suspect must have been spying VIPs and passengers’ movement at the airport. It confirms that they apply a lot of intelligence before they strike. Government must deploy state-of-the-art technologies such that detect most recent history of a person.
“These days, some person disguise to be travellers with plastic surgeries, but technologies can detect that a person arrested had just touched Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). There are such that with application of biometric tools to screen passengers, no matter the number of time a passenger does plastic surgery, the biometrics will not fail, these are what government should be doing at the airports,” he said.
Delano Ayoyinka, another security expert, noted that the government should henceforth, stop the distinction between ordinary Nigerians and government officials (VIPs) when screening at airports, saying that intelligence had also shown that the terrorists would use those people or places least expected to carry out attacks.
