A former Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren, on Thursday, recalled the December 25, 2009 attempted bombing of a United State aircraft by a Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, describing the incident as the saddest day of his life.
He, however, said Nigeria escaped being sanctioned by the United States due to its heightened aviation security system which was revealed by the CCTV footage made available to US authorities.
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He spoke in Lagos at the Second Quarter 2022 Breakfast Business Meeting organised by Aviation Round Table (ART) with the theme: “Perspective in Multi-Layer Aviation Security System and Passenger Facilitation.”
Demuren’s remark comes as stakeholders in the Nigerian aviation industry called for synergy among all security agencies to ward off terrorism attack in the sector.
Demuren was the Director-General of NCAA as at the time of the incident when Abdulmutallab boarded Northwest Airlines Flight 253 to Detroit, which was carrying 279 passengers and 11 crew members.
The plastic explosive was detected before he hatched his plot. He was arrested and later sentenced to life imprisonment by a US Court.
The former DG of the apex aviation regulatory authority recalled that his attention was drawn to the December 25, 2009 incident by the then Minister of Aviation, Mr. Babatunde Omotoba.
According to him, Omotoba had woken him up in the middle of the night to break the incident to him, but noted that the installation of modern equipment at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, revealed the entire activities of Abdulmutallab at the airport to the security team.
He explained that the Closed Circuit Television Camera (CCTV) footage provided by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) at the airport, exonerated Nigeria from complacency in the whole crime.
He disclosed that Nigeria was able to provide all the necessary documents as requested by the US, which led to the removal of Nigeria among the blacklisted countries by the US.
He, however, said the singular act led to improved security at all the nation’s airports, especially the international aerodromes, saying the security layers in Nigeria were increased from seven to 20 by the US.
Demuren regretted that prior to the incident, the father of Abdulmutallab had informed the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) of the radicalisation of his son which he lamented was not acted upon.
His words: “Up to the 1980s, there was no major aviation security challenge in Africa. Then came the 1993 Nigerian Airways Hijack (Lagos-Abuja Flight, diverted to Niamey, Niger Republic). After this was the 9/11 attack in the US, which changed the face of aviation security in the world. Layers upon layers of security were introduced in the US.
“In Nigeria, we had the Umar Farouk Abdul-Mutallab 2009 failed bomb attempt on KLM/NorthWest Airline. After this incident, the NCAA ordered enhanced multi-layered security measures at our airports, including body scanners.
“The Abdulmutallab incident was the saddest day of my life as the DG NCAA. I was woken up in the middle of the night by the Minister of Aviation who told me to go and watch the news. It was all over the news that a Nigerian wanted to kill Americans, but the CCTV footage saved us. When we were asked to provide our evidence, we were able to show it to the US and what we had then, some big aviation countries didn’t have them.
“At this point, I would like to appreciate the contribution of the various agencies at the airport, particularly FAAN for providing the CCTV footage…”
Earlier, President of ART, Dr. Gabriel Olowo, said that in view of the current security deterioration and challenges in Nigeria on farmlands, religious places, road and rail transportation, it was pertinent for the group to continue to discuss the security situation in the industry.
Olowo lamented that the various communiqués arising from the past breakfast meetings of ART were not implemented by the government.
An aviation security expert, Grp. Capt. John Ojikutu (retd) in his paper ‘Civil Aviation Security Defence Layers and Airport Passengers’ Facilitation,’ also said that the Abdulmutallab incident changed aviation security in Nigeria even as he decried the multiple security desks in the sector which he noted was discouraging travellers and investors into the country.
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