By Chinedu Eze
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has confirmed the receipt of an alert from the Ministry of Aviation over planned attacks on airports in the country.
These airports are those in Kaduna, Maiduguri, Sokoto, Kano, Abuja and Lagos State.
A senior official of FAAN at its headquarters in Abuja, who confirmed the report to THISDAY, said the agency’s management was still awaiting the details of the threat from security operatives.
The report of the threat was contained in a memo signed by FAAN’s Deputy General Manager of Administration and Logistics, S.M. Mamman, and addressed to airport chiefs of security.
According to an online medium, The Cable, the report was dated April 9, 2021, and airports on the list are those in Kaduna, Maiduguri, Sokoto, Kano, Abuja, and Lagos.
“I am directed to convey an alert from the Ministry of Aviation regarding security threats by criminal elements against airports in Nigeria and to also request for the immediate enumeration of necessary countermeasures for the protection of all airports/facilities under your purview.
“Specifically, the airports top on the list for which criminals are considering carrying out attacks include those in Kaduna, Maiduguri, Sokoto, Kano, Abuja, and Lagos among others. However, all airports are hereby alerted and requested to operate at a heightened threat level,” the memo read.
The airport chiefs have been directed to “submit a list of existing and additional countermeasures to address the threats, along with their cost implications where applicable.”
Also, they are expected to urgently convene an emergency meeting of airport security committees “to review the status of airport security, jointly recommend appropriate measures and share responsibility for effective implementation.”
Meanwhile, FAAN has advised passengers, drivers and other airport users, particularly those at the General Aviation Terminal, Lagos, to always comply with all laid down protocols on COVID-19 to ensure safety of all airport users.
In a statement signed by the agency’s spokesperson, Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu, it said users must follow the COVID-19 protocols for the collective wellbeing of airport users and Nigerians generally.
The statement said: “The Authority will like to emphasise that in line with government protocols, arriving passengers are to walk down to designated car parks to board their vehicles. No driver is permitted to pick up arriving passenger(s) at the frontage of the terminals.
“All drivers must park and wait inside the car parks, while arriving passengers walk down to the car parks to board their vehicles.
“For departing passengers, drivers are only allowed to drop off passengers in front of the terminals. They are not permitted to wait for any reason after dropping their passengers-it is only a ‘Drop Off’ zone. We will like to advise all our esteemed customers to strictly adhere to these rules in order to ease facilitation and enhance safety of all airport users.”
