Lagos airport undergoes America’s security audit

A four-man team from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) United States of America is currently in the country carrying out the security audit of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos in line with TSA security procedures.

The team, led by Transportation Security Specialist (TSS) was at NCAA on Monday to brief the Director General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Muhtar Usman on the exercise.

According to him, they would in the course of the exercise observe the implementation of aviation security measures in place at the MMIA and exchange technical expertise in line with ICAO Annex 17 and  International Aviation Security Standard and best  Practices.

They would also conduct inspections on the implementation of TSA security procedures of Arik Airlines being the only Nigeria carrier that operates direct flight to United States  and that of Delta Airline and United Airline, that both  currently operate flight in and out of Nigeria.

Therefore, the outlined agenda for the five-day exercise will include the examination of  Airport Operations and Standards, Quality Control, Access Control point at the Airport, Measures relating to Aircraft Maintenance, Passenger and Baggage Screening, Cargo, Mailing and Catering Services etc.

Other essential issues to be examined are Screening Equipment, Airport Contingency Plan (ACP) and Airport Security Programme (ASP).

The DG, Capt.Usman, in his response, thanked the TSA team for their visit and expressed the Authority’s willingness to partner, co-operate and assist the team for the success of the exercise.

According to him, ‘‘security is a serious issue and as a regulatory body, we give it much attention. Thus, security issues are resolved in a timely manner.’’

There will be a de-briefing by the team before their departure on Friday 4th March, 2016 at the Aviation House.

A team from the TSA had on January 15, 2015 visited Nigeria to audit the security system at her airports, particularly those that operate international flights.

The move was a follow-up to the visit of a team from the US security body last November, where some open items were exposed and ought to be closed by the aviation security, supervised by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

To ensure the airports meet the security standard in order to pass the TSA audit, top security officials from FAAN , who manage the airports and security personnel from both domestic and international airlines met at the NCAA headquarters in Lagos this week on how to close the open items before another visit of TSA team.

Some of the security operatives identified security lapses at the different parts of the airports, especially at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, where officials at the meeting admitted have many porous access areas.

They agreed that the perimeter fencing was not good enough, noting that unscrupulous elements jump through the fence to access the cargo section of the airport where they steal goods at the ramp.

Wole Shadare