The training of local staff has commenced to handle full body scanners acquired following the Christmas day bomb attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab even as Air Marshals from the United States now guard flights coming in and out of Nigeria.

“Full-body scanners have been installed at Nigeria 's four international airports and are being used selectively,” the Director-General of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr. Harold Demuren, said at a joint press briefing with the United States ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Robin Renée Sanders in Lagos yesterday.
Demuren said training is ongoing for officers with the goal of having the scanners which have been installed at Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja operating 24 hours a day.

For the time being, the machines have not been installed at similar airports in Kano and Port Harcourt .
“We want to make our airports extremely unfriendly to terrorists…explosive detection equipment are already being used and full body pat-downs for international passengers will not allow such to happens again." Demuren said.

He disclosed that ten of such scanners which create a 3-D images of passengers’ shape have been acquired by the government
Ambassador Sanders said that Nigeria should be commended for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority’s successful completion of Federal Aviation Administration [FAA] assistance program in preparation for the Aviation Safety Assessment [IASA] audit.
She posited also that although there is still more job to be done in the sector, it is important to celebrate the tremendous progress and success of the government in making the nation’s air travel the safest it has ever been.

Sanders who would be leaving Nigeria soon congratulated the NCCA for its historical issuance of Air Operator Certification [AOC] to Arik Air Limited on July 12, this year. She however said that Nigerian aviation sector has not been able to obtain Category 1 status the way other developed countries have.

Responding to her comment, Demuren said ‘’security challenge is a global one. It is not only an American issue, it is not the Netherland issue, and not Nigerian issue but a global one. So, the war on terror must be total’’. Demuren promised that the December 20th December 2009 bomb incident, with security measures being put in place by the NCAA, will never happen again, saying that body scanners have been made available in all he major airports in the country with the provision of ten scanners by the Federal Government.

While recounting on Abdulmutallab’s bomb case, which resulted in Nigeria in being included in the global terror list by the United States, Demuren said that on the fateful day, the equipment available at the Lagos Airports are those that could only detect metals, but that now all the international airport in the country have automatic detecting systems at different four stages before boarding flight to another country.

i think it is a better idea as it is going to minimize the work of the so call terrorist and even the drug pundit

but it is not going to stop bribery in the airport

i thot they said this full body scanner aint advicable specially for pregnant women?

The recent update on body scanners in the U.S, is that the scanners STORE all the images (pictures) of people that pass through. When the scanners were installed at the U.S airports, human rights activists were against it because it was violation of privacy, but the authorities "said" that the scanners would not store the images (i will scout the internet to post the article). So in Naija where there are no such things, don't be surprised if your n.a.k.e.d pictures shows up on the internet.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/cmcginnis/detail?entry_id=69524

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/01/11/body.scanners/index.html

     Also the body scanners releases radio active waves that inceases the risk of cancer (so frequent fliers are in trouble). Just search for "airport body scanners" in google and see n.a.k.e.d pictures of fliers. So sad.

its a good thing as it will deter terrorists and drup pushers

hopefully

Do they work?

Dolaapo:

    Also the body scanners releases radio active waves that inceases the risk of cancer (so frequent fliers are in trouble). Just search for "airport body scanners" in google and see n.a.k.e.d pictures of fliers. So sad.

It does NOT emit radioactive waves (think nuclear material). You probably meant electromagnetic waves and it is no more dangerous than x-ray machines. Prolonged exposure to any electromagnetic wave can cause cancer.

What people should be more concerned about is that images can be stored unmasking your “privates” especially if the image is inverted.

the funny thing is naija already bought the body scanners way back in dec 09.
Installing body scanners is not going to deter a determined terrorist. I am not against body scanners but my beef is that the images are stored in the scanners, so there is every possibility that it might get leaked and shows up on the internet
My bad electromagnetic waves, but it increases the chances of cancer.

I also don't think that it can detect drug couriers because the wavelength of the full body scanner (tetra hertz) cannot penetrate the body like an X-ray. But who knows, they might be able to switch from T-rays to X-rays.

Dolaapo:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/cmcginnis/detail?entry_id=69524

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/01/11/body.scanners/index.html

Also[b] the body scanners releases radio active waves that inceases the risk of cancer [/b] (so frequent fliers are in trouble). Just search for "airport body scanners" in google and see n.a.k.e.d pictures of fliers. So sad.

yeah heard that to but wasnt really sure if its true
if this is true i think the lifes of so many is in danger,they better reconsider

Travelista:

Do they work?

what do you take Nigeria and Nigerians for. do you think we are a nation of impossibilities, We a nation with possibilities. even agbero can evade them

They should just employ Full Body Inspectors like me to search female body crevices.

Night shift only, thank you.

It's about time.

Lie Lie Lie and Lies, I use the airport almost every week and there is nothing like that here. I Challenge any of them to produce pictures.

I was thinking the said scanners were only installed recently, except you saying you travelled internationally yesterday and u didnt see them scanners.

Anyway, there were no Scanners as at 31st July I when I passed through Abuja international airport

Oh No!! I don't want my privates to be available for public scrutiny!

Full body scanner or not nigerian know how to manover their way you can imagine how power do go off for 5 to 10 mins in the air port.

@mystikal my brother there is no full body scanner anywhere in the airport, @ least not the MMIA that i normally use.

Funny. In the U.S., these full body scanners are causing the biggest uproar in the media just because of the privacy issues. There are debates. Out of Nigeria, not a whimper.

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Travelista:

Do they work?

How do u know they don't work? Have u been beating security scanners/checks??

great
[img]http://s07.flagcounter.com/count/DymW/bg=ffffff/txt=ffffff/border=ffffff/columns=1/maxflags=1/viewers=3/labels=0/[/img]

Naija airports are really going hi-tech.

Infact last xmas in Abuja they had this drugs detection kit to test baggages.
I was like :wow! ! , what if currencies i may have handled had it on them and now it shows on my baggage handle?
Thats a grey area that naija immigration may never consider.
That can lead to people getting into big trouble just like that.

This is a contradicting news on yahoo that ( Body scanners going unused at Nigeria airports ) Is this attitude of the media helping Nigeria as a nation or the other way?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100811/ap_on_re_af/af_nigeria_airport_security

This caught my attention which is totally different from what I heard earlier concerning Mutalab

The U.S. gave Nigeria four full-body scanners for its international airports in 2008 to detect explosives and drugs. Those machines remain in use by federal anti-drug agents at the Lagos international airport and elsewhere, though Abdulmutallab did not undergo a screening

hackney:

Naija airports are really going hi-tech.

Infact last xmas in Abuja they had this drugs detection kit to test baggages.
I was like :wow! ! , what if currencies i may have handled had it on them and now it shows on my baggage handle?
Thats a grey area that naija immigration may never consider.
That can lead to people getting into big trouble just like that.

Even if there were then it would be trace amounts of it and not enough to do much with.
They would probably have to search you and then have you on your way as you haven't got any drugs on you.

@ Oh No!! I don't want my privates to be available for public scrutiny. lol

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So that u can c MAMA GEE things abi
Abegi o, RAMADAN dey

hax:

They should just employ Full Body Inspectors like me to search female body crevices.

Night shift only, thank you.