As mock bomb explodes… Abuja airport police blasted for ‘poor response’

The Regional Manager of the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Manager of Abuja Airport, Mr Chris Bature said one minute after the bomb exploded, he quickly called the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the airport and alerted him but regretted that there was no quick response from the police. The representative of the […]

The Regional Manager of the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Manager of Abuja Airport, Mr Chris Bature said one minute after the bomb exploded, he quickly called the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the airport and alerted him but regretted that there was no quick response from the police. The representative of the Ministry of Aviation and Coordinator of World Bank projects at Nigerian airports, Alhaji Dauda Mohammed, the representative of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Gambo Daniel Balarabe both condemned the laxity of the police at the airport in response to the blast.

Bature, who voiced disappointed at the police, noted that “The bomb blew up at exactly 10.10 am, but by 10.13 am, the Honourable Minister of Aviation who was in his office called me to ask what was happening at the airport. I then told him it was a mock exercise. The Aviation security operatives were able to immediately seal up the gates to and out of the airport to control traffic to avoid casualties. But like we said, this is just a rehearsal. And in a rehearsal like this one, there must be some lapses. The purpose is actually to identify the areas that we have problems and address them. We have now known where the lapse is and we shall rectify it. The emphasis on this one was on security and that was why a bomb was used. However, the Police Bomb Disposal Unit was there and they did their best. We commend their own efforts.”

Bature said he has already started making arrangements with officials of NEMA to organize public enlightenment on how people will respond to such situations and the use of fire fighting equipments. He said despite the loud and scary noise from the bomb blast, people were seen rushing towards the blast rather than running away from it. He said in the actual case of a bomb attack from a terrorists group, many bombs could be planted at different locations thereby making it risky for onlookers to hang around.

The manager defended the absence of Customs, Immigration and NDLEA operatives at the scene of the blast saying they were not trained for any quick response to such emergency situations, adding, “There are security agencies that have to do with such situations that involve emergency operations. Those ones you have mentioned don’t need to be there. But where we have an overwhelming situation, they could be drafted to do some specific duties there like registering casualties or controlling traffic. If not, they are not supposed to be there,” he said, commending the efforts of the airport fire fighters. Bature said such mock exercises, where bombs will be planted at safe areas and be made to blast in order to test the security alertness of operatives at the airport have taken place at Lagos Airport and will soon take place at Kano and Port-Harcourt airports. He said more of such mock exercises will be planned at the airport again and none of the operatives will be alerted so as to know how exactly they will respond. But national police spokesman, Emmanuel Ojukwu, said the force is currently paying special attention in training their men on emergency response. “It’s not perfect just yet, but that’s where we’re aiming for,” he told Weekly Trust.

Then Alhaji Dauda Abdullahi of the Federal Ministry of Aviation said there were so many security lapses that emanate as a result of the refusal of the police to respond to the blast, adding, “Rather than the police going to the scene of the incident, they came very late and remained at the gate of the airport, doing nothing. It was wrong to have allowed people trek towards the scene of the blast even when the area was not satisfied safe by the bomb disposal and other relevant agencies. Accidents don’t give notice. You just have to remain on the alert all the times,” he said.