AIRPORT SECURITY: AVIATION SECURITY NOW BEAR ARMS AT THE NATION’S AIRPORTS IN LINE WITH INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS 24-06-24
By Sadiq Aminu Aviation Security (AVSEC) are now to bear arms at the nation’s airports as part of efforts to beef up security in line with international standards.
Inaugurating 120 of the personnel at the international wing of the Murtala Mohammed Airport Lagos, the Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Mrs Olubunnmi Kuku said, these AVSEC personnel tagged special force have been given the requisite training to carryout their assignments effectively.
She allayed any fears of the security team deploying their arms for use as excessive force in the course of their duty, even as she cautioned passengers and airports users to go about their businesses in an orderly manners.
The MD FAAN announced that, the special force would be deployed to the five major airports namely, Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu.
She emphasized that the elite squad will work closely with other security agencies to ensure a coordinated approach to airport security.
“What is critical is that we want to make sure that we can deter people. We hope that we do not have to use force. In the event that they need to, they will coordinate with all of the other security agencies. The focus is to make sure that they are helping us in terms of executing all of our desires, specifically around making sure that there are no illegal activities that go on.”
According to her, the presence of armed AVSEC personnel is intended as a deterrent to illegal activities, and the use of force will be a last resort, coordinated with other security agencies if necessary.
“We see all sorts of elements, unscrupulous elements who are coming in, who are potentially attacking individuals, and we don’t want that to continue to happen. But as mentioned earlier, the idea is not to use any force. We need to make sure that the people who work within our community in the airports are also behaving in a manner that is palatable and conspicuous to our passengers.”
In a related development, Mrs Kuku disclosed at the event that, a middle-aged man was electrocuted while attempting to steal electrical cables and other equipment from the powerhouse of the FAAN.
The man, whose identity remained unknown, she stated, had managed to gain access to the power generating building at Lagos airport and began disconnecting the power installations when he was electrocuted.
The FAAN boss reassured that, the agency is committed to addressing all security vulnerabilities to prevent unauthorized access to the airports.
“So across the airside you’ve seen where we have people who are either crossing our fence, or of course, either trying to steal our airfield lighting equipment, or potentially even harm some of the individuals that we have on site. We had an incident, where an individual actually went into our power house and he got electrocuted.”