UN considers profiling of passengers’ database to check terrorism

By : Joke Falaju, Abuja

Date: 19 July 2022 5:00am WAT

(FILES) File photo dated on September 11, 2007 shows the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. Nigeran Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, was subdued by fellow passengers and crew aboard a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam on December 25, 2009 after he allegedly tried to detonate an explosive device as the plane descended toward Detroit. Dutch authorities confirmed that the detained suspect had flown from Nigeria to Amsterdam and then on to Detroit with a valid US visa. Nigerian officials said on December 26, 2009 that he had boarded a KLM flight from Lagos after undergoing normal security checks at the airport. AFP PHOTO / PIUS UTOMI EKPEI (Photo credit should read PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images)

Amid global terrorism, the United Nations Counter Terrorism Office is working with member countries to profile passengers’ database.

The development followed threat by criminals and terrorists, who use the aviation industry to conduct cruises related to terrorism not only in Nigeria, but also in the entire world

The body’s Programme Manager, Marie Marguerite Carpenter, while speaking at the national consultative workshop on countering terrorist travel programme, being coordinated by the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, in collaboration with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), explained that their aim was to detect terrorists using their passport information for sinister activities.

Her words: “Our goal is to support countries, take the passenger data when they check in or are crossing the border to make sure that these data are analysed and cross-checked against international and national databases of watch-listed individuals.”

Carpenter said the global body provides comprehensive support to member-nations in line with the Security Council resolutions passed in 2017 and 2019.

She noted that the support they provide falls under four pillars, including assisting countries to develop a national legal framework to collect, analyse passenger data and to prevent serious crimes.

NCAA’s Director-General, Captain Nuhu Musa, said the Advance Passenger Information and Passenger Number Record (APIPNR) were tools for effective managing, controlling and maintaining travel through details of passengers, adding that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) councils on standard also passed the resolution.

He pointed out that the APIPNR identifies potential terrorism, illicit drug trading, human trafficking and helps improve facilitation through proper documentation.

Musa said the initiative “is a global one as it involves all agencies – Customs, FAAN, NCAA and all other security operatives.”