Despite the Saturday attack of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) staff quarters, the Managing Director of the agency, Capt. Hamisu Yadudu, has said it will not shut down the Kaduna International Airport.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation, Smart Adeyemi, had recently advocated for state and local government policing to boost security in and around the country.
But the Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, lamented that almost 24 hours after abductors seized its workers and five family members and three other persons at the Kaduna Airport, the abductors had not contacted the agency.
Speaking at the weekend at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA) in Lagos during an oversight function by the Senate Committee on Aviation, Yadudu regretted the attack on the agency’s staff quarters.
He promised that the management, the state government and various security agencies would ensure the safety of humans and equipment at the nation’s airports.
He said: “This incident is entirely different from closing down the airport. It’s a security concern that we have at our staff quarters. A lot of our workers do not even live in this place. If there is need for us to close, we will close it, but this is even far from it.”
“There is no need for that drastic action. It’s just a small percentage of our workers that stays in the staff quarters; the rest are living in town. You can see that the staff quarters are fenced. We are taking appropriate measures. But like I said, we just have to improve to counter these challenges.”
Adeyemi called for local government policing, saying Nigeria, with its federating units, should not shy away from taking a decisive action to tackle the menace.
The Kogi West senator noted that despite the increase in the population of the country over the years, the security architecture had remained static and the borders porous.
He called for the restructuring of the country to address the various security challenges confronting it and wondered why some continued to kick against restructuring.
Recall that at least 12 people were kidnapped by bandits following an attack on the Junior Staff Quarters of the Kaduna International Airport.
The attack occurred on Saturday with a member of staff of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) kidnapped along with his wife, five children, and three other persons who had visited them.
