Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development, says the Department of State Services (DSS) should not search passengers’ bags at airports.
Keyamo spoke on the ‘This Morning’ programme on Arise News on Sunday.
“We’ll sit down, but we needed to take this step. DSS, you are not, you have no business searching people’s bags,” he said.
“You are profiling individuals who are going out of the country, people who have been, maybe who are under security checks and all that.”
Speaking about the queues at airports caused by multiple agency checks, he said customs officials should only focus on items imported into the country, not items exported.
“All these agencies at our airports are not directly under our control; you have multiple agencies, DSS, NDLA, Customs, and Quarantine,” he said.
“And these were in place before we came into office, and they were not directly under my control for us to begin to remove them from the airport.”
On December 5, the federal government approved measures aimed at curbing harassment faced by travellers with various agencies stationed at airports.
Addressing the recent measures introduced to address the agencies’ operations, he said the aim is not to remove these agencies but to streamline how they perform their duties.
“Nobody expects to go through an airport without security checks,” the minister said.
“However, the complaints we have consistently received from Nigerians have been complaints bordering on extortion, corruption, and perhaps even the very tardy process of these security checks.
“There are some practices we have noticed among the security agencies that are not under our control that we think do not align with the best practices all over the world.”
‘JOINT INSPECTION TABLE CAUSED CONGESTION AT AIRPORT’
Using Lagos international airport as an example, Keyamo said passengers enter through the arrival door and encounter a screening machine for their bags immediately.
After the screening, the minister said the bags are inspected at a joint inspection table, which causes congestion due to the lack of space.
He said the congestion often leads to blockages that extend to the entrance gates.
“What is that joint inspection table? You will see customs, DSS, NDLEA, quarantine, and on and on, all lined up on the same table,” he said.
“Each of them telling you to open your bags, and they’ll be dipping their hands into your bags one by one, passing you on to the next agency on the same table, and all, you know, I have not seen this in any part of the world.”
Keyamo said the ministry has dismantled the joint inspection table at airports.
He explained that the agencies now work with aviation security at the screening machine to eliminate repetitive searches.
“So you can then observe all the bags passing through the machine jointly, without harassing anybody,” he said.
“That is why the machines are there in the first place. You, NDLEA, customs, if you notice anything like drugs inside or suspicious package, pull the person aside, take the person away into your private screening room, and do your further searches there.”
For DSS, he said they are meant to profile those travelling in and out of the country for security checks.
“DSS, you are not, you have no business searching people’s bags,” the minister said.
“You are profiling individuals who are going out of the country, people who have been maybe who are under security checks and all that.
“Go and stay with immigration. At the point of stamping their passports, you can pull the person aside a person that ought not to travel.
“DSS can work with immigration at their table, and they can just roam around. Roam around the airport, check faces of people, profile them.
“If you want to pull people aside as you think they should not travel, pull them aside to a private room, but don’t create a nuisance at airports where you see they are checking people’s bags.”
Keyamo mentioned that customs officials claim certain exportable items require inspection, but he suggested a simpler solution, such as using clear signage to indicate items that need to be declared.
“That’s what we see when we go around the world. Customs, so why can’t you do the same thing?” he asked.
“And then, it is actually for arriving passengers, things to declare, things not to declare.
“This issue of exportable items, it is actually the country you are flying into that should be more concerned about the things you are bringing into their country. Not us concerned about what you are taking out of the country.”
Keyamo also said corrupt individuals in the aviation security agency which he controls must be identified and removed.
