FG Moves to Protect Passengers at International Airports

Chinedu Eze

Recently, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, hinted that the federal government has concluded plans to streamline the screening of passengers at the international airports and deploy security equipment to reduce human interface in order to end the allegation of the harassment of travellers by security operatives.

It is also hoped that this will reduce multiple screenings of passengers, which will save time and end the highhandedness of some security personnel who allegedly extort money from passengers and unduly delay passengers that refuse to give them money until they miss their flights,” Keyamo said during an interview in a local TV station monitored in Lagos.

Keyamo believes that this is the most effective way to curb interaction between passengers and security personnel at the airport, including the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Aviation Security of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, the Nigeria Immigration Service, the Nigerian Customs Service, the Quarantine, the Nigeria Air Force and the Nigerian Police.

Keyamo said his ministry has complained to the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, over the harassment some Nigerians face at the hands of some security agents stationed at various airports in Nigeria, saying that he gets loads of reports about the misbehaviours of some of the security operatives at the airports.

He said even though the actions were not carried out by officials of the Aviation Ministry, he has approached the NSA to address them because he is concerned about the harassment of passengers.

“We have complained to the National Security Adviser on this because we are concerned about the harassment of Nigerians. Take note, it is not aviation, it is not Keyamo, I see people tagging me all the time, ‘somebody just asked for a bribe from me’, but it is somebody from another agency. They tag me all the time, but it is not me, and not aviation. We have to complain to the office of the NSA who is doing a lot on this,” Keyamo said.

He disclosed that the NSA has acquired about 1,000 body cameras for security agencies for better monitoring of activities at the airports.

“I have mentioned before, that the training is almost over now, he bought 1,000 body cameras that all the agencies will wear. We just want to go through the training first. There is a command centre for this where everybody will see exactly the moving cameras on everybody’s chest,” Keyamo said.

He disagreed with calls for most of the security agencies to be pulled out of the airports, but said their operations must be monitored to ensure that they meet the required standard.

Meanwhile, there are indications that the security will be modelled like the US Transport Security Administration (TSA), which will have one Stop Security (OSS), which is a concept designed to streamline international travel by allowing passengers and their luggage to undergo security screening only once, typically at the departure airport.

It was learnt that in most airports around the world, the immigration official doubles as intelligence officer and police; such that once a passenger passes through immigration, he needs not meet another official to scrutinise his documents; unlike what happens in Nigeria, where Department of Security Service (DSS) will scrutinise your travel documents and pass it to immigration and after the passenger has gone through  comprehensive screening.

According to Airport Council International (ACI), as passenger demand for air travel rises yearly, so does the need for more efficient processes of handling passengers and luggage from airport to airport. 

“Despite security being a necessary step in this process, there are avenues airports can use to adopt more efficient methods of facilitating passengers.  One-Stop Security (OSS) is a concept that principally aims to expedite the flow of transfer passengers and baggage to their onward destinations by eliminating the unnecessary duplication of security controls at the transfer airport. The concept has been a hot topic for discussion for many years but despite some inroads, its implementation is still sporadic globally,” ACI wrote on its website.

It itemised the benefits implementing a One-Stop Security initiative for airports, which overall security screening because it can further raise and align overall global aviation security standards, as it requires regular exchanges of information between States and may require improvements to existing security processes to maintain mutual recognition of equivalence.

It also enhances better resource allocation. It will help airports to eliminate the need to screen transfer passengers and bags more than once, saving transfer passenger security costs. Airports would not only solely benefit from it; reductions in security costs ultimately would also benefit passengers in the form of reduced security charges. Not duplicating screening can strengthen security by allowing States and the industry to better allocate resources to where they are most needed, such as personnel training and procurement of better equipment.

ACI included operational benefits, saying that passenger skipping transfer screening can help reduce flight connection times and minimize the possibility of missed connections concerning baggage.

“This benefits the passenger experience and enhances the overall efficiency and competitiveness of the air transport network,” ACI stated.

However, the menace and hostility of security operatives against air travellers, have been an intractable problem at the nation’s major airports in Abuja and Lagos. In Lagos, NDLEA, Immigration, Customs and Quarantine officials are known to harass passengers, including those who have met all the conditions to travel.

THISDAY investigations revealed that many travellers who have agricultural commodities like dry fish, vegetables, fruits, food condiments and others are delayed by the NAQS personnel who screen these foodstuffs, but in the process the passengers are delayed.

THISDAY once monitored the activities of the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) officials and their interface with passengers at the Lagos Airport.

Airport workers confirmed to THISDAY that some passengers had missed their flights due to such delays and because many passengers are ignorant that quarantine is part of the screening and check in process, they are not attuned to being screened by the NAQS personnel.

During the investigation, many passengers kicked against payments demanded by NAQS for the services rendered to the passengers, which are part of the official charges.

Also, in bound passengers are screened by NAQS and those with agriculture commodities that do not meet health requirements are seized by the agency. A passenger who returned from one of the West African countries, told THISDAY how some of the fruits she brought from that country were seized by the Quarantine officials, alleging that they would seize the goods and issue detention letter to the passenger and after they would destroy the commodities.

In addition to streamlining the security apparatus, the Consumer Protection Directorate of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) should collaborate with FAAN to sensitize passengers on their obligations at the airports and also inform them about processes and requirements.

It was learnt that some of the security operatives capitalize on the ignorance of passengers to rip them off.