In this interview with newsmen in Lagos recently, the chairman, presidential committee on airport security, Prof. Sylvester Monye, says the presidential directive to check security breaches and curtail the excesses of aides to military and para-military personnel as well as civilians in restricted areas of the five international airports will be enforced to the letter. IME AKPAN was there.
Composition of the security committee and enforcement of the presidential directive
President GoodluckJonathan, approved on September 6, 2013 the constitution of the presidential committee on the review of security and screening architecture in all international airports in the country.
The security committee is made up of representatives of the inspector general of police, national security adviser, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), department of state security service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Services (NAQS).
The president’s directive is precise and will be carried out to the letter. Over the years, it was the practice of government protocol officials, aides and dignitaries, protocol officers of private companies, authorised uniformed and un-uniformed military and security officials to move unhindered in restricted areas of our airports. This unwholesome milling around in the immigration and customs areas is a threat to national security. A stop will be put to the practice forthwith.
Under the arrangement, no protocol officer, attached to or working for or working with any VIP, military or civilian will be allowed to go beyond the immigration check points at the five international airports in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Kano and Abuja. Once a VIP crosses the immigration checkpoint, no aide will be allowed to follow him. Even if an off-duty military officer is found wanting, he will be arrested. If you go to the NnamdiAzikiwe International Airport, Abuja, you will not find anybody who is not supposed to be at the arrival or departure hall.
If you are found there, you are arrested. If you are the protocol officer of Julius Berger or any other big company, we welcome you but your job stops after your boss has entered the restricted area of the airport. Protocol work should not be done inside the terminal building. The security or protocol people are not supposed to be at the foot of the aircraft. We are going to stop the practice because it is not done anywhere else.
Making the military and para-military personnel to key to the directive
I have emphasised on military officers, governors and government officials; we have senior military officers in this committee; so it is actually a military committee which is an indication that we mean business. Besides, there is a circular from the secretary to the government of the federation to every important personality in Nigeria, including the chief of army staff, chief of defence staff, chief of air staff, and ministers to support the transformation agenda of the federal government in this regard. What we have is a situation in which this particular administration has lived up to its reputation of transformation. We have to support the infrastructural development, the remodelling of airports, and construction of new terminal buildings.
On sensitising and managing conflict among the security agency personnel
All of us need to be involved. The military and para-military officers have copies of the president’s directive. In the committee, for instance, an assistant inspector of police is representing the inspector general of police; we also have a brigadier general representing his principal. This tells you that it is a very serious matter.
The governors will be written to; every important person in the society will be written to. In addition, we plan to do more of radio, television and newspaper sensitization. While I agree that sometimes military personnel could behave in ways that are unbecoming we have even bigger problem among civilians. At the Abuja Airport the other day, I witnessed a scene where a cab operator screamed at a deputy inspector of police who told him politely to park his car properly.
Also at the Lagos Airport the other day, we caught people who disguised their vehicle number plates. They covered their plate numbers with nylon and drove to the airport as VIPs. When we removed the covering we discovered that they were personal number plates. They also had mobile policemen who escorted them to the airport. So, it is not only the military that are the problem; civilians are, too. We are going to deploy soldiers, air force, police and civil defence personnel; they will do overt policing initially while covert policing will come thereafter.
Right now, we are going to bare our fangs; we will enforce it and it will work. It has been successful elsewhere and it must work in Nigeria. We are not a different type of country; we belong to a comity of nations and we will ensure that things work here. The gridlock noticed at MMIA is unacceptable. It is the result of indiscriminate parking and we are not going to accept it anymore irrespective of who is involved.
On addressing heavy traffic on driveway to Lagos Airport
The traffic gridlock at the international wing of the MurtalaMuhammed Airport is embarrassing. The other day I saw a passenger with a big bag ascending the bridge leading to the departure hall because there was a heavy traffic on the main drive to the airport. He had to get off the car and climb the bridge because if he had stayed in the traffic, he could have missed his flight. Now, if you checked the cause of the traffic at the basement of the bridge, it was caused by those who would just park their vehicles at unauthorised places.
There is no structural defect at the airport, the problem are the users of the facility. What we are saying is ‘let us be civil for once.’ We will ensure that people comply with what we are going to put in place. We have soldiers, we have the police, and we have the air force officials. We are setting up a task force that would enforce and maintain order at the airports. And it is not going to last for a short time; it is going to be sustained. It has taken quite some time to arrive at this. This committee was set up in September 20113 and this is 2014. So, we had enough time to map out this operation. We have been to this airport (Lagos) and Abuja a couple of times and we are going to enforce the presidential directive.
Managing electioneering at airports during politicking
Our job is to make the airports so conducive for airlines and air travellers. If you are a passenger travelling, of course you will travel with pleasure. If you are doing a political rally, you go to where you are supposed to do it. If you are a politician and you travel in a convoy to the airport, there is a code of conduct for you and your convoy on where to park. You can come to the airport with your convoy but we are saying you cannot use your convoy to block access to the international airports. I have no doubt in my mind that the politicians will comply and if they don’t, there will be sanctions.