Recently, the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN)—a government agency responsible for ensuring that all airports have the necessary services and facilities to guarantee safe, orderly, and quick air transport—unveiled the armed Aviation Security (AVSEC) unit at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos and promised to replicate it at other international airports.
Aviation Minister, Festus Keyamo said the move was part of measures to curb the menace of touting and other illegal activities around the nation’s airports and noted that the armed security has the mandate to arrest and prosecute touts and other suspected criminals around airports.
“This is apart from the other inter-ministerial effort that is still ongoing to deal specifically with the issue of agencies of government within the airports that are involved in extortion, bribery and begging”, Keyamo added.
Plausible as this sounds, we are worried that it will add to the long list of arms-wielding security personnel that currently dot the country, with all its implications.
We have the presence of virtually all the security and other uniform personnel, civil defence, customs, Department of State Security (DSS), Immigration, Aviation Security Personnel, Quarantine Service Officers, National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and a host of others at the nation’s airports.
But do we need the presence of gun-wielding aviation security personnel at our airports? What will they do differently from what the Airport Police is doing? Already, we have a whole command in charge of all airports in the country?
The minister specifically said that these armed personnel will be mandated to arrest and prosecute—the same task currently undertaken by the Airport Police. We think this is an unnecessary duplication.
We are not unaware that the presence of armed security personnel at airports is common globally. They play a crucial role in ensuring the safety and security of passengers, staff, and infrastructure.
In the United States, for instance, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is responsible for airport security screening. Although the TSA employs non-armed Transportation Security Officers (TSOs), armed security at airports is typically provided by local law enforcement agencies or specially assigned airport police.
In the EU, security measures are standardised under the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) regulations. Armed security personnel at airports often include national police or special airport security forces.
Many airports in Asia have significant armed security personnel, including military forces. Additionally, countries like India, China, and Japan have stringent security measures with a visible presence of armed personnel at airports.
Airports in the Middle East, such as those in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, typically have a strong presence of armed security personnel, often including military and specialised airport security forces.
Major international airports worldwide have some form of armed security personnel present to respond to potential threats and ensure the safety of all passengers.
However, nations approach issues, especially those of security, by looking at their peculiar situation to ascertain what works well for them and their citizens. Considering our peculiarities, we strongly believe the nation doesn’t necessarily require armed security personnel at its airports.
Rather than create yet another set of gun-wielding personnel, the government can do better by strengthening the airport police and increasing the number of the Department of State Services’ operatives and those of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission at the airport to discreetly monitor and address whatever illegalities that is happening at the airports
But most importantly, there is the need to effectively deploy technology including the use of more advanced cameras with facial recognition, human movement tracking, motion detection, and artificial intelligence capabilities in all areas and offices of the airport.
We think that this whole idea of recruiting armed security personnel is some people’s way of creating jobs for the boys and further enlarging the wage bill. The government should urgently withdraw the guns from them and strengthen the Airport police. We consider the idea as a political move that is completely undesirable. It is important to point this out because the recruitment process is likely to be unduly politicised with all its unwholesome implications. The recruits are also likely to be reporting to a politically exposed person, which may lead to abuse and misuse.
Nigeria is reported to have more than its fair share of illegal small arms in the West Africa sub-region. The nation and its policymakers ought to be concerned about this. They are expected to control that situation to check the likely process of, in trying to solve a small problem, the nation ends up creating a monster. That was how bandits were armed. Today, the nation as a whole is suffering from it.
