FG pledges determination to tackle security challenges at airports

Sen. Hadi Sirika, the Minister of State for Aviation, said on Friday in Abuja, that the Federal Government was determined to provide adequate security at the nation’s airports.

He spoke during the inauguration of the Committee on the Assessment of Security Situation in Nigeria’s Airports.
Sirika said that recent happenings at the airports across the country were a source of concern, adding that security of the airports was non-negotiable.

According to him, the committee is charged with the responsibility to review aviation safety in Nigeria.

“The world of toady that we live in, with threat all over the place, an activity in the remotest part of the world can affect the entire world or position that is 1000 miles away.

“So in aviation, there is no room for error and security is extremely very important because we have seen how it has affected the world almost on a daily basis.

“Aviation is one, very universal in nature and very critical, security is number one in order of priority and importance and we take ours very seriously.

“As we all know there has been several security breaches at the airports, which has brought embarrassment to the country both locally and internationally,’’ he said.

The terms of reference according to Sirika include identifying the deficiencies in the overall security performance in the whole of the airports and assessing the risk associated with such deficiency.

He added that the committee was also expected to provide prioritised recommendations to assist individual airports in addressing those identified deficiencies.

The Chairman of the Committee, retired Air Commodore Hambali Tukur , pledged that members would justify the confidence reposed on them by the government.

Tukur also tasked the members of the committee to bring their experiences in the aviation security to bear as well as devoting their time to the assignment given them.

He said that the inauguration of the committee was apt considering the recent happenings at the nation’s airports, adding that aviation security was multidimensional in nature.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the committee has 10 members with Mr Bello Ocheja, former General Manager, Aviation Security (AVSEC), as the secretary.