That suspected thieves recently sneaked into an Arik Air aircraft parked at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, stealing valuable gadgets, speaks to the negligence of our law enforcement agencies. And it comes with serious implication for the aviation industry and our national image. The break-in has left the Boeing 737 aircraft grounded without its Flight Management Computer (FMC) and other accessories. The FMC is a specialised computer system that automates a wide variety of in-flight tasks, reducing the workload on the flight crew to the point that modern civilian aircraft no longer carry flight engineers or navigators.

Despite recommendations by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and several years of budgetary allocations, it is scandalous that there is no airport in Nigeria that has comprehensive perimeter fence. So, it is more of luck than deliberate preventive action that none of the nation’s airports has been attacked by terrorists or other dangerous persons. Even the supposedly fenced Lagos airport is open at Ejigbo, Shasha and Ajao Estate areas. With that, anybody can access the airport through these places and there have been incidents of such incursions in the past; like when pallets containing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ballot materials were vandalised at the cargo terminal.

There have been reported incidents of security breaches, of theft at the airside of the airports, especially the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, where a man who might be mentally unstable once clung to the engine of an aircraft that was taxiing to take off. Some years ago, a young boy in Benin breached airport security and hid himself in the wheel-well of Arik Air aircraft and was brought to Lagos by the flight. There have also been many incidents of those who gain access into the airside of the Lagos airport, hid in the similar compartment of the aircraft and were flown overseas, with only their dead bodies usually discovered after such risky venture.

What makes the Arik Air aircraft incident more disturbing are reports from preliminary investigations that it was an insider job. This exposes the airports to a more complex security challenge because it indicates that the workers who carry out critical jobs for the airlines are not properly profiled. Globally, airports and aircraft offer series of highly attractive targets to terrorists and insurgents for reasons that include high value of aircraft, the concentration of people (often representing different nationalities) and the automatic media coverage that such attacks would generate.

So, to avert future security breaches, concerned authorities should reinforce the airports with trained security personnel, deploy modern security equipment, including CCTV that covers every part of the airports and there should be close monitoring of activities at these airports to ensure that pre-emptive measures are adopted to avert any adverse acts that may jeorpardise security at the airports.

The theft of equipment in the Arik Air aircraft indicates that the airport security is porous. This development will affect Nigeria’s country risk rating and might lead to an increase in aircraft insurance premium as well as the cost of aircraft leasing in the country. We therefore call on the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and other aviation agencies to effectively profile those that it gives ‘On-Duty’ cards that enable them access sensitive areas at the airports. These agencies should also, in collaboration with airlines and other organisations at the airports, carry out periodic profiling of workers that work at the prohibited areas of the airports.

Aside providing more patrol vehicles for the four terminals in Lagos, aviation authorities should do everything possible to ensure that the lives of those who use the airports in Nigeria are protected.

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