Stowaway Scandal: FAAN Announces Sweeping Security Measures

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Simon Ateba/Aviation correspondent

Nigeria’s aviation authorities on Thursday announced sweeping security measures at the country’s porous airports, five days after a teenager ran across the runway at the Benin airport, hid in the wheel well of an Arik plane and emerged unscathed after a 35-minute journey from Benin to Lagos.

The incident involving 13-year old Ricky Daniel Ohikhena on 24 August shocked millions of Nigerians and further discredited claims by aviation authorities that Nigerian airports were safe and secure.

Reports said the teenager had thought the plane was flying to the United States.

“The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has taken additional security measures to forestall runway incursions at all airports in the country, especially those without perimeter fences,” said Yakubu Dati, the agency’s spokesperson.

Dati said the new measures were in response to the recent stowaway incident that occurred at the Benin airport.

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“First, at every airport without fully functional perimeter fence, a FAAN security vehicle will be deployed to a point within full view of the aircraft as it taxies out to take off and maintain visual scrutiny and if necessary to respond to any situation until every departing aircraft is safely airborne.

“Secondly, bushes at all airports are to be cleared to ensure full view of the perimeter, to allow both the control tower, FAAN Fire and Rescue observation posts and aviation security patrol teams have a sweeping view of the entire perimeter of an airport from their duty posts,” Dati said.

He said static observation posts will be erected at strategic locations within the perimeter fence of all airports to forestall premeditated and inadvertent unauthorised access to the air side.

” This will be complemented by motorised and foot patrols,” he said.

FAAN said the absence of perimeter fences at most of our airports has been a challenge to FAAN because of the huge capital outlay required in constructing perimeter fences, some of which are as long as 40 kilometres, across the 22 network of airports across the country.

“Most of these projects are expected to commence in 2014 while the remaining ones will be executed in 2015, in line with the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan in the aviation industry,” he said.

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