The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, have decided to deploy gun-wielding officers of Aviation Security, AVSEC, special force across international airports in the country.
According to Vanguard, some aviation security experts complained that foreign travellers who have a phobia for guns might not find their presence attractive, saying it could affect the psyche of travellers.
However, others called for the perspective to be jettisoned, explaining that the series of incidents in the 80s and 90s had made the development justifiable.
Chief Executive Officer of Centurion Security and Safety Consults, Group Captain John Ojikutu, retd, said aviation security was not about multiplication or application of arms.
He said: “From the beginning to the end, it is profiling and screening. It is only when you have breaches that you can now bring them (armed men) in. It is in the contingency plan. Every airport has a contingency plan for aviation security.
”Those who come for the contingency plan are not part of aviation security, they come from outside. Real aviation security anywhere is not about arms carrying, it is the profiling, screening, the screening of carry-on luggage, screening of check-in baggage and the screening of cargo that would go inside the aircraft.”
