Nigeria to deploy air marshals on US-bound flights

Nigeria has announced that it will soon deploy air marshals on its Untied States-bound flight in order to increase security after the attempt on Christmas Day by a Nigerian man, Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, 23, to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane flying from Amsterdam in the Netherlands to Detroit in the United States.

Babatunde Omotoba, Nigeria’s Minister for Aviation, told reporters that the government of the United States had urged Nigeria to deploy air marshals on all flights from Nigeria to the United States.

He said United States will help train and equip the Nigerian air marshals.

This decision, according to Harold Demuren, director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nigeria, demonstrates that his country is “completely committed” to the security of aviation.

Following the incident on Christmas Day, when the Nigerian man attempted to detonate a bomb that was strapped on to his body as the plane was about to land in Detroit, the United States has been planning to place Nigeria on a security watch-list and started additional screening of air passengers flying from Nigeria to the United States.

The United States has already placed Nigeria on a list of 14 countries where passengers must undergo stricter security screening before they board any US-bound flight.

Starting from January 2010, passengers flying from Nigeria to the United States are required to go through the same checks as travellers from Cuba, Afghanistan and Iran.

Harold Demuren said the government of Nigeria has informed the government of the United States of its “displeasure” over the extra restrictions imposed by the US, adding that he hoped those curbs will be revoked soon.

He detailed the additional measures aimed at security adopted by Nigeria following the attempted bombing of the United States-bound plane, such as the “100% examination” at Nigeria’s airports, the use of 3-D full-body scanners, the second screening of all hand-luggage, as well as complying with all security-related directives of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

In addition, Harold Demuren said, Nigeria has passed twice the United States Transportation Security Administration’s audit for Lagos Airport and Abuja Airport.

Counties such as the Netherlands, Canada and the United Kingdom have decided to use full-body scanners at their international airports in an effort to prevent the security breach of the like that occurred on the Northwest Airlines flight on December 25, 2009.