May 29, (THEWILL) – No fewer than 25 airports in the country are exposed to security breaches, due mainly to substandard fencing.  At the moment, some of the  international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt have partial perimeter fencing, while  the others owned by the Federal Government are not yet properly fenced, a situation which has led to encroachments on the lands by some unwanted elements.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) security guidelines prescribes that all airports must be secured with double perimeter fences. Its regulations mandate standard airports to have both perimeter and security fences. The ICAO annex 14 sees a perimeter fence, while annex 17 equally has provisions for a security fence.

In an effort to meet the ICAO standard, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had painstakingly applied safety measures in line with international best practice to boost security and safety within the nation’s airports.

However, more needs to be done in relation to the fencing of all the airports across the country.  Investigations show that there is an urgent need for the FAAN to fortify the already existing perimeter fencing as required by the ICAO to avert more security breaches in the future.

On May 19, 2022, the mangled body of an unknown person was found on Runway 18R/36L of the International wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos.

The human remains were suddenly found on Runway 18R during a routine runway inspection by FAAN personnel.

In a statement issued shortly after the incident and signed by Mrs. Faithful Hope-Ivbaze, General Manager, Public Affairs, FAAN said investigation was ongoing and  a report would be issued accordingly.

Earlier, in March 2022, gunmen suspected to be bandits attacked Kaduna Airport, killing the guard at the Voice Omni Directional Radio (VOR) site, a Navigational Aids equipment belonging to the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

The sudden attack, which took place at midday, affected the smooth take-off of flights as most of the airport workers were running helter-skelter for safety.

The recent attack was not the first. In March, 2021, the airport’s staff quarters, close to the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), were invaded.

From all indications, most of the attackers usually gained entrance into these restricted areas of the airport through the perimeter fences. For the Kaduna attack, the bandits had gained access to the quarters through the airport runway at midnight, storming into the apartments of their victims in a brazen manner.

Investigations have shown that most of the existing fences of airports in the country are poorly manned and could be easily breached by unwanted guests.

It was also gathered that the poorly built fences, coupled with underutilisation of airport premises, especially those closer to the fences, had given room for thick bushes to grow, covering up the fences in some instances and allowing hoodlums to take cover, a situation inside sources have described as dangerous.

Findings also revealed that although Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt Airports boast of the best fencing infrastructure in the country, they still fall short of the ICAO standard.

To meet the ICAO recommended practices, industry observers said there was a need for adequate provision of huge funds to construct perimeter and operational fences across all the over 25 airports operated by FAAN. The funds are expected to take care of the several hundreds of kilometres of landmass across the airports in the country.

The ICAO security guidelines instructs that all airports must be secured with double perimeter fences. To meet this specification, nets, barbed wire, cameras, sensors, infrareds, intrusion detection devices are required, all of which would cost close to N1 trillion to fix.

In his opinion, a former Commandant of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport MMIA, Group-Captain John Ojikutu, stated that airports were supposed to be fortified with perimeter fences  in accordance with Annex 14 and that if they have security fences, it must be in accordance with Annex 17.

Querying further, the aviation security consultant and CEO of Centurion Securities, said, “Do they have security fences in accordance with Annex 17? If there are no security fences but perimeter fences, are they enhanced in compliance with Annex 17? Do we conduct regular security patrols on the internal perimeter roads around the airport to wade off intruders? Do we have sufficient manpower deployed to man or for the monitoring of the perimeter fences? If all these are not in place what do we spend the security levy imposed on the passengers on?”

Ojikutu pointed out that there is a minimum distance that the urban and public roads and buildings must not exceed to the airport fences or security fences. All these parameters, he said, must be enforced by the responsible airports and state Authorities.

Reacting to the issue of insecurity at the airports, the Secretary-General of the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), Comrade Abdulrasaq Saidu, condemned a situation whereby a corpse was found at the runway.

Saidu noted that recent airport incursions were not the first time, even as he warned that necessary security measures should be taken by the government to safeguard both the airport and personnel.

He lamented that every year, some critical safety infrastructures are budgeted for such as the perimeter fence but those concerned fail to execute the projects properly.

Exonerating FAAN from all blames, Saidu noted that perimeter fences were among the critical things that must be done before anything, calling on Senate and House committees on aviation to do their oversight functions properly.

Saidu stressed the need for synergy between all the security agencies, especially the Nigerian Air Force as there is provision for them at the airport.

On the way out, he suggested that all acts establishing aviation agencies in the country must be urgently followed by compelling the Minister of Aviation to set up boards of parastatals to stop giving room for corruption, bad management and clash of interests.