FG okays N3bn for airport scanners to replace manual bag search
The Federal Government has approved N3 billion for airport scanners.
Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, revealed this to State House media on Monday following the Federal Executive Council meeting at the presidential villa.
He explained that this is an effort to cut down on the number of agencies who handle the manual luggage checks at airports.
He went on to say that the suggested remedy calls for the delivery and setup of cutting-edge, specially designed screening devices for the identification of explosives and drugs.
He claims that the major international airports in Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, and Enugu will be included in the authorised deal.
He clarified that the goal of these state-of-the-art devices, which include dual-view and remote capabilities, is to completely transform security protocols.
He remarked The new detecting machines will quickly identify bombs or other illegal substances as bags pass by, replacing the need for manual bag searches.
He said “it’s what Nigerians will be interested in because, since I came to office, we have been inundated with complaints of the harrowing experiences that passengers go through at the airports where they have to physically search their bags.
“I’m sure you all know about that and it’s been really getting under the skin of Nigerians.
“You’ll see various agencies lined up; NDLA, they’ll say open your bag, Immigration, they’ll say open your bag, Customs, they’ll say open your bag, EFCC, they’ll say open your bag, and they will dip their hands in your bag.
“So we thought we should do something like you have the TSA in America, where you have detection machines. So when they pass your bags throuhg the machines, they detect explosives or any other thing and that’s the end of the search.
“So it’s for the approval of the award of contract for the supply and installation of customized explosive and narcotic detection screening systems, with remote and dual view for the international airports of Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu.
“Luckily enough, the Council saw the need for this kind of equipment in order to relieve Nigerians of such experiences and it was graciously approved by Council.
Keyamo also said the council approved a memo for signing of a bilateral air service agreement with the Republic of Guyana.
“We have entered into an agreement with Guyana and they have been very anxious to have direct flights from Guyana to Nigeria.
This agreement was entered way back in 2014, with the administration at that time, but you understand that international agreements, which are treatises, don’t come into force until their internal processes are completed in both countries,” he said .
