Meanwhile, efforts are on ground by National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA to rescue the trapped victims.
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), on Saturday, revealed that work had commenced on the construction of a permanent base for officers and men in Emene near Enugu metropolis.
The Commander, NAF Base Services Group, Enugu, Air Commodore Ebenezer Alade, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu that the move would further boost the morale of officers in Enugu.
Alade commended President Muhammadu Buhari and the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, for the special attention given to NAF officers and men in Enugu.The vision of the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, is being felt in all units and formations of the NAF, and for us in Enugu, we bear testimony of that vision.
We are all excited about this development of construction of our permanent base in Emene near Enugu.
We are also happy that Enugu has become a re-occurring decimal in the agenda of the Chief of the Air Staff.
Alade, who, however, did not mention the cost of the ongoing project, said that a team of officers from NAF headquarters recently inspected sports facilities in Enugu toward the conduct of NAF Games 2016 later in the year.
All these are pointers to the strategic importance of Enugu to the NAF family,’’ he added.
NAN recalls that the CAS about two weeks ago inaugurated eight projects at Air Force Comprehensive Secondary School, Agbani near Enugu.
The projects inaugurated included a 16-bed ultra modern clinic, drains and reconstructed sections of collapsed school perimeter fence.
Others were the renovated dining hall, five classroom blocks, administrative block, three blocks of students’ hostel and reclamation of eroded football field.
Credit: Guardian
If Nigeria decides to build perimeter and operational fences around the 22 airports that are currently partially fenced or without fences, the country would require about N25 billion.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) recommends that countries fence their airports to ensure safety and to check influx of unauthorised persons into the airports.
This is as the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, has assured all the airport users of absolute security and safety of humans, cargo and equipment at all times.
A recent survey carried out by FAAN indicated that to properly fence the 22 federal government-owned airports, the authority would need about N25 billion.
According to FAAN’s spokesman, Mr Yakubu Dati, each of the 22 airports is about 50 kilometre long and would require serious investments for all of them to be properly fenced according to the ICAO, recommended practices.
Apart from the four international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt that are partially fenced, other 18 airports owned by the federal government are not fenced, a situation, which has led to encroachments on the lands by some indigenes.
The 22 airports across the country occupy over 500 kilometres of land mass and ICAO security guidelines prescribe that all airports must be secured with double perimeter fences.
Dati however explained that there are other safety measures FAAN has taken in line with international best practice to boost security and safety within the nation’s airports.
He said, “The agency has introduced the perimeter patrol, built perimeter towers, which enables the Aviation Security, (AVSEC) personnel and other security agencies to have a full overview of the airport environment and installed latest technologies in strategic locations to increase surveillance.
“Most of the leakages observed in the past by analysts and other aviation stakeholders had been closed by FAAN and this has made it possible for FAAN to scale the American Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security audit carried out earlier in the month at the Lagos Airport.”
A team of the Airport Council International (ACI) was in Nigeria to carry out security audit on the airports and they identified some gaps, which Dati said FAAN was able to close the gaps without being specific.
“That is why when TSA came calling about two weeks ago, we were given clean bill of health because all the loopholes have been closed,” he added.
He however identified insider’s threat as another area that the authority is observing and taking action against.
“We profile anybody that works within the terminal or in the terminal in line with global standards. It is after passing that we issue them the On-Duty-Card, ODC. Even at that, the ODC also have some levels of restrictions such that it is not every holder that has access to every part of the terminal. We have different levels and colours based on the level of clearance you have received,” he said.
Dati observed that airport as an enabler to the nation’s economy contributes about $1 billion annually while also providing more than 300,000 jobs, stressing that the government would continue to ensure growth in the sector.
Credit: Leadership
