The Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika has said that the federal government would install security equipment at the domestic terminal of the Nnamdi Azikiwe international Airport, Abuja to enable some airlines operate from there without hampering the ongoing restructuring and remodelling work.
Sirika stated this in Abuja when he received in his office a delegation from the British High Commission led by the head of aviation security, Ms Jankie Milies
He said the step was taken to decongest traffic at the international terminal and make surveillance easier.
He also stated that security challenges have been aviation-related recent times adding that government would place high premium on the issue of threat to aviation security.
“That is why the ministry is trying hard to establish and aviation security system that is world standard, with the ability to work with arms, sniffer dogs, modern surveillance equipment and intelligence gathering,” said Sirika.
The minister also said the ministry was working towards improving the physical security of the nation’s airports, and commended the efforts of the British government, through the High Commission in Abuja, in conducting an assessment of the security situation in the nation’s airports to determine the areas of possible assistance.
He told the delegation that the ministry had recently set up a committee for a similar purpose and was currently studying its report and recommendations for implementation.
He therefore called for greater collaboration between the two countries especially in the area of capacity enhancement in modern aviation security trends.
Earlier, Milies had told the minister that her team had undertaken an assessment of some of the nation’s airports airport with the assistance of the relevant agencies, in order to determine areas of possible assistance and discovered some challenges in cargo handling.
