Louis Ibah
There were harsh words of condemnation from passengers, airline workers, and other concerned stakeholders in Nigeria’s aviation sector following the breach of security at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, on Friday by Mr. Usman Adamu, a Niger Republic citizen that prevented the take-off of a Port Harcourt bound Azman Air aircraft.
“If that guy’s intention was to blow up that aircraft, I guess the story would have been different now,” said aviation analyst, Mr. Gideon Mpaka.
Mpaka’s view was echoed by many of the stakeholders who saw the breach that allowed Adamu to gain enough unhindered access into an otherwise ‘sterile’ airport airside to climb onto the aircraft engine and disrupt its movement as enough evidence of the absence of security at the Lagos airport.
Analyst, Capt. John Ojikutu , in his comment heaped the blame on the failure to adequately profile those working as security guards at the airports to sift the criminals who aid stowaways, thieves, traffickers and burglars out of the the system.
Ojikutu also decried the inability of FAAN to provide the required perimeter fencing at airports across the country to ward off intruders.
Ojikutu said: “How could he (Adamu) have entered the security controlled areas? Either through the airport access ‘controlled’ areas or from the porous areas especially the airport perimeter fences that need security enhancement.
“How did the man climb the wing or the engine of the aircraft and how did he get to the aircraft holding point? Did he get help? That takes us back to the issue of background checks on all those working in the airport airside and the security controlled areas. How many of them do we have sufficient background checks on?” Ojikutu queried.