Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, has said that following incessant security attacks by bandits at Kaduna International Airport, it has increased security surveillance at the airport. This is just as the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, said new measures are being taken to strengthen security at all the nation’s airports. Speaking about the last week bandits attack at the Kaduna airport, the acting General Manager, Corporate Affairs, FAAN , Mrs Faithful Hope- Ivbaze said there is now combined security patrol of the airport. She said : ” A reinforcement team called in from the Nigeria Defense Academy, NDA, and other security teams at the airport are now on joint patrol of the perimeter fence of the airport.
“The airport security, that is, Avesec team, have released their security vehicles for this combined security team to patrol the perimeter fence of the airport”. Also speaking about the attack of Kaduna Airport by bandits and the new security measures, the General Manager, Public Affairs, NCAA, Mr Sam Adurogboye told Vanguard that measures are being taken to strengthen security at all the nation’s airports. He , however, said some of the measures cannot be made public. Adurogboye said : ” Safety and security is key and entails collective efforts. This cut across Federal government, State governments, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria,FAAN ,etc. We are all concerned but we cannot discuss security issues for obvious reasons. Definitely, measures are being taken to strengthen the security apparatus at all Airports and not in Kaduna alone.”
Meanwhile, an aviation stakeholder and former Airport Commandant, Muritala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, Group Captain John Ojikutu ( rtd) said there should be regular ” networking of government security agencies workshop ” to review security at airports. According to him “If FAAN and the NCAA did not see this attack coming after the invasion of the Kaduna airport staff quarters and the NDA next to the airport then whom do they think should be responsible for keeping watch over a target of economic importance as the airport? We did the workshop on the networking of the government security agencies working in the airports last in 2010 and nobody thinks it is necessary 12 years after.”?
“The airport staff quarters and close by NDA were invaded few months ago; what action has the responsible authorities taken after the invasions? What intelligence estimates or assessments have been taken from the various banditry attacks within Kaduna State and the capital environment? Which agency is watching over the airport and others outside Kaduna which include Abuja and Lagos? The retired Group Captain further said that, Aviation Security is a function of the national security and intelligence is the first layer of the six layers in Aviation Security. How does FAAN get intelligence? Only from the NCAA which should be a member of the National Aviation Security Committee as demanded by ICAO; do we have one? Ask the NCAA.
“After the first attempt last year, the NCAA needed to have asked FAAN to review the Kaduna Airport Security Programme for review or release an Administrative Directive to FAAN to review the Security Programmes of all Airports that could be targeted by the hoodlums or bandits while the NCAA itself would review the national civil aviation security process (NCASP).” “There is a lot to do on Avsec at our airports with multiple security agencies operating at different levels of the Airport defence layers without a unified control,” Ojikutu added.
