FAAN admits operating faulty scanners at airports

The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, officials yesterday confessed before the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation that some of the installed scanners at some Nigerian airports were faulty.

This disclosure was made during a budget defence session involving FAAN before the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation.

Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, PDP, Abia, chairman of the committee, dropped the hint while reading the capital budget proposal of the agency for the 2016 fiscal year, wherein she expected to see an allocation for the repair or replacement of security scanning machines for the airports, having noticed that the one in Port Harcourt airport had not been functional.

Onyejeocha said: 'I went to Port Harcourt for oversight in 2015 and discovered that the scanners are not working. And when I asked, I was told they have not been serviced, that even a brand new vehicle needs to be serviced for it to function properly.

'I have to say this because this is the essence of the exercise and thank God the press are not here. You have to put those scanners in working condition as they are the bedrock of airport security in and out of the country.'

FAAN's acting Managing Director, Saleh Dunoma, said the agency was about to engage the suppliers of the scanners to do maintenance for them.