Ikeja- The Commissioner of Police, Lagos Airport Command, Mrs Dorothy Gimba, said officers were being trained in preparation for the security audits by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) coming up in June.
Speaking on Sunday at the seminar, Gimba said that the motive of the workshop was to put the command in order to meet up with the ICAO’s security audit before the due date.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the seminar has as its theme: “Improving the Aviation Industry Through Optimum Development of Her Security Personnel’’.
According to Gimba, this was to enable the command meet up with their mandate especially as the nation prepares to face the ICAO audits.
She told participants that the seminar was also to provide for exchange of experiences, seek for solutions and to remind all of the emergency plans contiguous to the aviation industry.
Gimba said that each agency was aware of what was expected of it during normal operations and emergencies.
She noted that the seminar was meant to upscale the competence of the policemen attached to the aviation sector in carrying out their duties within the sector as the nation prepared for the security audit.
She described the seminar as encompassing because it touched on topics like crime prevention, procedure and team building, as tools to accomplish organisational goals.
“This seminar is meant to scale up their competence in carrying out their duties within the aviation sector whilst bearing in mind too, the need to prepare for retirement days,’’ she said.
The airport police command chief explained that retirement plan was incorporated into the seminar because of its prospect in enhancing performance.
“The primary aim of this seminar is to scale up the participants competences in carrying out their duties within the aviation sector.
“To further embellish this workshop, the issue of pre-retirement preparations is also of critical importance because of its prospects in enhancing performance,” she said.
Gimba described the sector as “not only a highly specialised sector, but one that is multifaceted.
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“The sector is a multi agency environment which demands for collaboration and co-operation in order to form a synergy that will ensure seamless operational environment for optimum performance,” she said.
She said it was on the basis of this that Nigeria Police Force thought it as important to sensitise, brush up and update the skills of security personnel in the airport environment, through the workshop.
Also speaking, the Chief Security Officer (CSO), Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, Retired Col. Carl Onalo, commended the command for organising the seminar.
Onalo assured that at the end of the training, the participants would know what was expected of them at the airports and the assistance they needed.
“You know we don’t carry weapons; they are the ones that carry weapons on our behalf,’’ he said.
The CSO promised to assist the command in the provision of accommodation which had been a major challenge to police in the airport command.
According to the CSO, “the need to provide housing and accommodation for the police in the airport had been brought to the knowledge of FAAN’s management by the command.
“I can assure you that the authority is doing something about it,’’ the CSO said.
He said that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) would soon commence housing scheme for the police officers at the command.
Onalo said that the provision of housing plan for the officers would be duly planned and executed by the Commissioner of Police, Airport Command and the MMIA’s General Manager in the shortest period of time.
He added that the welfare package by FAAN would further boost the morale and welfare of the officers of the command.
“I can assure you that in the next few months the scheme would kick start,’’ Onalo said.
He added that FAAN would continue to provide necessary support for improved efficiency and welfare of the Police command at the airports.
NAN reports that participants at the seminar include: representatives of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Others are: Aviation Security (AVSEC), Directorate of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Airport Fire and Rescue Services (AFRS), as well as SAHCOL and NAHCoaviance Plc. (NAN)