I had an unfortunate encounter with a security agent at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja on Tuesday, December 22. I had just passed through the immigration and customs desks and was trying to find my way to the temporary departure upstairs. I tried to use the escalator without success because it was faulty. I turned towards the elevator and also discovered it was faulty. At that point, I turned to one of the officials (I cannot remember which one of them) and tried to complain to him. As we were talking, another immigration official joined us and complained bitterly how passengers were made to pass through the experience of climbing the stairs. He graphically described the cases of some pregnant women who had to climb the stairs amidst pains.
At that point, I reached out for my camera and suggested to them if I could take a few pictures and alert the relevant authorities. They obliged me and I took a few shots with the hope of passing them to the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, for his attention. Just as I was about climbing the stairs, a security personnel who turned out to be from the Department of State Services beckoned on me. I was not sure why he invited me but I suspected it was because of the pictures I took. However, true to my suspicion, he ordered me to open the camera and delete the pictures. Of course, I refused initially and he seized my camera. I willingly left the camera with him and proceeded to the departure lounge.
I am sure the security official was taken aback by my action. I did not argue with him but rather left a fairly expensive camera with him. As I was about to pass through the final check into the departure lounge, another security agent beckoned on me. This time, he got hold of my passport and sort of seized it. Again, I did not protest but dutifully followed him downstairs. He was joined by the former personnel and they struggled to get all my details and probably stop me from travelling. At that point, I had to make a few telephone calls which did not yield much results.
A scene had already started building up. I asked them of my offence and they said that I took pictures of the dysfunctional escalator without permission. I told them that I took permission. The gentleman who permitted me was right there in front of me but I could not point at him. He was already in panic. I tried to explain to the DSS officers (two of them) and another lady that I wanted to help as a citizen to pass the information to the relevant authorities. They refused bluntly. They had seized my passport. In fact, they threatened to beat me up. The DSS operative told me that if not for democracy, he would have shown me hell. At that point, they were more than four on my matter. After about one hour of argument, I decided to delete the pictures, took my camera, headed towards the departure lounge.
Even as I put that encounter behind me, the level of insecurity in our airports remains a subject of concern to me. Sadly, with many security agents littered at our airports, the real issue is that although there are people waiting to pounce on those who take pictures, insecurity manages to fall through. The reasons are not far-fetched. They are all man-made. There are too many incompetent people doing many other things rather than security who have commercialised security and enthroned insecurity. You will notice that there are so many of them. They concentrate as various screening points where they allow anything and everything to pass through as far as you can tip them. If you refuse, they beg you for it. The pathological begging culture in all our airports is most embarrassing.
In a typical case, airport security operatives will allow your luggage pass through screening and turn around to ask what the passenger had in them. When you answer, they will simply tell you “…Oga, we trust you but what do you have for us for Christmas/weekend?” Really, so you trust me enough to neglect your duty? Where do you know me? Of course, the trust is not without expectation. If a passenger shows willingness to give the officials money, then they will get expedited passage.
Another example of abuse of security processes especially at the Abuja airport happens in the handling of access tags. These tags are supposed to be used for privileged access for those escorting VIPs. The tags which are kept in a central location are meant to be handed only to individuals who have passed through screening and who are legitimately attached to recognised government officials. It is a lucrative business and no one cares to screen those who carry those passes. You can imagine the level of danger such a practice can constitute to the security of the entire airport.
I know there have been several security breaches in many of our airports. Some of them are being investigated currently. However, the fragrant abuse of procedures, unnecessary duplication of duties and the corruption and or begging culture are some areas that could be looked into. Looking at the security architecture at our airports, one continues to wonder why one big breach that could lead to huge losses has not happened. This could be a warning. Something urgent needs to be done to rid our airports of multiplicity of do-for-nothing security agents who focus on gratification and make our airports prone to avoidable security lapses.
PUNCH
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