The Federal Government is to procure customised explosives and narcotic detection screening system with remote and dual view for five international airports to reduce the stress encountered by passengers.
Minister of Aviation and Aerospace development, Chief Festus Keyamo, disclosed this at the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting on Monday in Abuja.
He said that the contract was coming on the heels of the administration’s concern for the long delay and complaints by passengers using airports across the country.
He said that the N3.28billion machines would be installed in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu Airports, adding that it has a completion period of 12 month from date of payment.
‘’Since I came to office, we have been inundated with the harrowing experience that passengers go through at the airports where they have to physically search their bags. You see various agencies lined-up and they will be dipping their hands into your bags.
‘’We thought we should do something like you have the TSA in America where you have detection machines so when you pass your bags through their machines it detects explosives and any other thing and that’s the end of the search,’’ he said.
Keyamo also said that the council ratified the Bilateral Air Service Agreement with the Republic of Guyana, which was signed since 2014.
He said that the agreement would bring about lesser air travel time for passengers going to most European countries.
On the Nigeria Air project, the minister said that the project had been suspended and a report submitted to the President on the next line of action, adding that he would not want to pre-empt the decision of the president on it.
He, however, disclosed that various issues surrounding the deployment of the airline was appropriately tabled in the report to the president.
Keyamo said at the right time Nigerian would be informed of the circumstances of the airline and when a new one would take off.
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Lateef Fagbemi, said the FEC approved the presentation of the Human Right report of the country to the United Nations.
He said that the report was part of the UN Universal Periodic Report to be presented in February 2024.
‘’Since 2018 we have not made a report and there would be a meeting where all these reports would be submitted in February 2024. It’s just right that we forward the report ahead of that meeting.
‘’After engaging critical stakeholders in each of the six zones of the country, including all the three tiers of government, we compiled a report which we are sending to the United Nation Human Right on Universal Periodic Review for consideration,’’ he said.
Fagbemi said that the report contained certain questions posed by the UN as part of the requirement for the submission of the report.
He said the report contained the status of Nigeria on child employment in armed forces, discrimination against women, especially in term of inheritance as well as the fight against corruption.
