The federal government in an effort to guide against hazardous occurrence in the aviation industry is set to establish a world class standard aviation security system at Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport Abuja.
The Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika disclosed this when a delegation from the British High Commission, led by the Head of Aviation Security, Jankie Milies visited him in his office in Abuja.
Sirika, said a world standard airport security is necessary in view of the precarious world security situation that has put aviation under serious watch.
According to the Minister, most of the major disasters that have befallen the world in recent past have been aviation-related, as such, the issue of aviation security has to be on the front burner as it is one of the weakest links being exploited by terrorists.
The security system which entails ability to work with arms, sniffer dogs, modern surveillance equipment and intelligence gathering according to Sirika, would equally assist in improving the physical security of the nation’s airports.
He commended the efforts of the British government, through the High Commission in Abuja, in conducting the assessment of the security situation in the nation’s airports with the aim of determining areas of possible assistance, adding that placement of the security equipment at the domestic terminal of the Airport would enable some airlines operate from there, without hampering the ongoing restructuring and remodelling works which is aimed at decongesting the traffic at the international terminal and make surveillance easier.
He further informed the delegation that the Ministry had earlier set up a committee for a similar purpose and currently studying its report and recommendations for implementation and called for greater collaboration between the two countries especially in the area of capacity enhancement in modern aviation security trends.
The Head of Aviation Security at the British High Commission, and leader of the delegation, Jankie Milies in his address earlier, intimate the Minister of her team’s assessment of some of the nation’s airports airport with the help of relevant agencies, in order to determine areas of possible assistance, and were able to discover some challenges in cargo handling.
Adding that the team had one more round of assessment to do before turning in their full report that would culminate in further discussions with the Minister.
She further informed the Minister of their readiness to conduct some trainings for about 80 aviation employees drawn from the relevant agencies with readiness of the High Commission to arrange an assessment tour of the ministry’s officials to some airports in the United Kingdom to help in the development of aviation security in Nigeria, an offer which the Minister accepted immediately.
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