Festus Keyamo, Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, has criticized the Department of State Services (DSS) for its involvement in searching passengers’ bags at international airports.
Speaking on the ‘This Morning’ program on Arise News, Keyamo expressed his disapproval of the DSS’s actions.
He said the agency should focus on profiling passengers rather than conducting bag searches.
According to Keyamo, the DSS’s role should be limited to profiling individuals who are travelling in and out of the country, particularly those under security scrutiny, rather than rummaging through passengers’ belongings.
“We’ll sit down, but we needed to take this step. DSS, you are not, you have no business searching people’s bags.
“You are profiling individuals who are going out of the country, people who have been, maybe who are under security checks and all that,” he said.
The minister also addressed the issue of long queues at airports, which are often caused by multiple agencies conducting overlapping checks.
He argued that customs officials should focus solely on inspecting imported goods, not exported items.
“All these agencies at our airports are not directly under our control; you have multiple agencies, DSS, NDLA, Customs, and Quarantine.
“And these were in place before we came into office, and they were not directly under my control for us to begin to remove them from the airport,” Keyamo explained.
Keyamo noted that the federal government had recently approved measures to curb harassment faced by travellers due to the involvement of various agencies.
While he acknowledged the necessity of security checks, he called for a streamlined approach that would reduce congestion and prevent extortion or corruption.
The minister pointed out that the current system, particularly at Lagos International Airport, was causing unnecessary delays.
He explained that after initial bag screening, passengers often encounter a “joint inspection table” where multiple agencies, including DSS, NDLEA, and Customs, inspect their bags one by one, causing congestion.
Keyamo criticized this outdated practice, calling it inefficient and unprofessional.
Keyamo also suggested that agencies, such as the NDLEA and Customs, could handle any suspicious packages or potential security threats in private screening rooms, rather than conducting public bag searches.
He reiterated that the DSS should collaborate with immigration officers at passport control to monitor passengers but not be involved in physical searches of bags.
