Igbafe Albert Afegbai, a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police, is the director in charge of the directorate of Aviation Security Services at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). In this interview with SHOLA ADEKOLA, he spoke on the efforts the present management has made to shore up the security network across the airports. Excerpts…
WHAT’S your take on airport?
Well, if you are talking about the perimeter fencing, it’s an issue in the sense that ,first of all, when we came on board, we had a lot of encroachments in the perimeter areas because is a vast land. We have been trying to put in place with the little resources we have, mostly on patrol measures. We have patrol at night. We have observation posts, which are being manned by the AVSEC personnel. Then we have the joint patrols with the military, the Air Force, and the AVSEC personnel. And because of the perimeter area too, we just recently launched the armed unit of the AVSEC.
But most of the issues we have have to do with the fencing. A lot of the fencing have been destroyed by the neighbouring communities. I will tell you there is a big challenge because we will get as many as 20 to 30 intruders every night. And the problem we are having is our court system. When we hand them over to the police before we know it they are released. The Legal Department of FAAN is collaborating with the Attorney General of the state to help us get mobile courts so that these things will be handled swiftly.
There are a llegations that some private airlines are being used for money laundering. How are you monitoring the activities of these private airlines?
Recently, the Minister launched a task force, which is currently investigating private airline owners. When you are talking about money laundering, it is a different ball game, because we are talking about private jet owners, we had a meeting with the NSA, who gave us some guidance and gave us some instructions and some orders that we are following through the Minister of aviation and the FAAN MD.
But we are monitoring them. With the task force in place, what we want to do first of all now is to make sure all the private jet owners adhere to the rules of FAAN, whereby everybody that is coming, taxing the planes or coming through their hangars will be properly screened by the AVSEC personnel. That is being worked out.
Any mechanism put in place to ensure everyone is checked?
When you talk about VIPs, VIPs are VIPs. So, we are trying to launch the fast track. But the fast track system is not going to be just only for the VIPs. Anybody that is interested will come in if you want to be attended to swiftly, seamlessly. It happens all over the world. We have it in America and Chicago airport. They have a fast track system.
If I go back to what you are saying, nobody is being given preferential treatment in the airport. Even my minister subjects himself to search, my MD subjects herself to search. I subject myself to search. You will pass through the screening machines or the body detector machine. You must adhere to the rules when you come to the airport.
How prepared do you think the nation is to evolve into this modern technology trend?
Yeah, like in my own department, when I came, I introduced a database system. Because, AVSEC is a professional body in which the staff undergo instructor courses by ICAO standards.
So, what we are putting in place is we are preparing an algorithm whereby everybody will put in the database. And with the click of the button, we know those who have done their courses, those who are certified, the time they are supposed to go on certification, the time their certificates will be expiring. All those are being worked on.
In some parts of the world, Artificial Intelligence is being used, especially to monitor, to check, to see whether things have been done properly. Are you looking at that?
My MD and the Minister, are looking at some companies who have made propositions for what you are saying, and as I said, we are going to do the access control, and the access control will work with an AI system, whereby when somebody is coming into the airport, If you have any weapons with you, if you have anything that is with you, the AI will detect it and immediately send a signal to the command centre.
We are working on that.
What else have you done since you got into office?
When I came on board, I was shocked that AVSEC has been in existence for over 10 years, but their uniforms were not gazetted. Well, I’ve done that. AVSEC personnel were not being trained, some since five years, 10 years, 15 years ago. Some people have been in AVSEC for about 20 years, they’ve not gone on course. So, with the assistance of the MD and the minister, they released funds. presently,, we have Ghanaians, Sierra Leoneans, Gambians who are attending courses in our ASTC, which is the Aviation Security Training Centre, Because we happen to be one of the security outfits or one of the countries certified by ICAO. So, we have achieved a lot. When we came, the second international runway had been closed for over nine months. And we tried our best, the MD, the Minister, the Director of Airport Operations and the Director of Engineering all put heads together and it was re-opened. I can assure you that between now and December, you will see a new face of Aviation and the airports.
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