The management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, has disclosed that the federal government would require at least N25 billion to construct perimeter and operational fences across all the 22 airports owned by the Authority in the country.
This is coming just as FAAN has assured all the airports users of absolute security and safety of humans, cargo and equipment at all times.
Speaking in an interview in Lagos on Sunday, the general manager, Corporate Communications, FAAN, Mr. Yakubu Dati stated that a recent survey carried out by the authority ishowed that to properly fence the 22 federal government-owned airports, FAAN would need atleast N25 billion to carryout the project.
Dati explained that each of the 22 airports is about 50 kilometre long and would require serious investments for all of them to be properly fenced according to the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, recommended practices.
He said apart from the four international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt that are partially fenced, other 18 airports owned by the federal government are not fenced, a situation, which has led to encroachments on the lands by some indigenes.
It is observed that the 22 airports across the country occupy over 500 kilometers of land mass, while
ICAO security guidelines prescribe that all airports must be secured with double perimeter fences.
Dati maintained that there are other safety measures FAAN has taken in line with international best practice to boost security and safety within the nation’s airports.
He pointed out that the agency had introduced the perimeter patrol, built perimeter towers, which enables the Aviation Security, AVSEC, personnel and other security agencies to have a full overview of the airport environment and installed latest technologies in strategic locations to increase surveillance.
The FAAN spokesman emphasised that most of the leakages observed in the past by analysts and other aviation stakeholders had been closed by the authority.
He added that this had made it possible for FAAN to scale the American Transportation Security Administration, TSA, security audit carried out earlier in the month at the Lagos Airport.
In his words, “It would be recalled that about two months ago, we invited a team from Airport Council International, ACI, to carry out security audit of our airports and they identified some gaps, which needed to be closed and we were able to close those gaps. That is why when TSA came calling about two weeks ago, we were given clean bill of health because all the loopholes have been closed.
Insider’s threat is another area that we are looking at. We profile anybody that works within the terminal or in the terminal in line with global standards. It is after passing that we issue them the On-Duty-Card, ODC. Even at that, the ODC also have some levels of restrictions such that it is not every holder that has access to every part of the terminal. We have different levels and colours based on the level of clearance you have received.”
Dati said pointed out that airport as an enabler to the nation’s economy contributes about $1bn annually while also providing more than 300,000 jobs, stressing that the government would continue to ensure growth in the sector.
