20100102
allafrica

Lagos — The State Security Service has blamed the Nigerian Intellingence Agency for failing to share key information two months ago about Umar Abdulfarouk Abdulmutallab, the young man who allegedly tried to blow up a plane on Christmas day over the United States with nearly 300 people on board.

If the charge is confirmed, it could highlight the disarray within the Nigerian intelligence community which parallels the mistakes President Barack Obama said had been made by US officials, reports the BBC.

As the blame game gathers momentum, it has emerged that the US gave Nigeria four full-body scanners for deployment to the country's international airports as a deterrent against explosives and drugs, but none were used on Abdulmutallab when he boarded the Detroit-bound flight, officials working for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have confirmed.

This is just as Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has again described Abdulmutallab's attempt to blow up the Delta airline plane, as an embarrassment to all Nigerians.

The reported failure by one part of the Nigerian government to share information with other parts of the administration could also, of course, have had potentially catastrophic consequences - although, in the event, Abdulmutallab allegedly failed to completely detonate explosives on the plane.

In the spacious grounds of the Abuja headquarters of the Department of State Security, (formerly, and still better-known as the "SSS" - the State Security Service), the building is protected by high walls, and the gates are guarded by plain clothes agents wielding new and lethal-looking machine guns believed to be Israeli manufactured Uzzis, reports the BBC.

Inside the offices two senior DSS officials said that Nigeria's other main security outfit, the Nigerian Intelligence Agency had not shared key information given to it by the father of the suspect - information which could potentially have stopped Mr Abdulmutallab boarding the plane.

The father, respected Nigerian banker Alhaji Umaru Abdulmutallab said in a written statement on December 29 that when he became concerned about the behaviour of his son, who was living abroad, he signalled this concern "to the Nigerian security agencies about two months ago and to some foreign security agencies about a month-and-a-half ago, then sought their assistance to find and return him home."

The two senior DSS officials said the agency that Mr Abdulmutallab Snr. had briefed had been the NIA.

The DSS officials went on to claim that although their agency was responsible for maintaining airport "watch-lists" of people under suspicion, the NIA had not shared the father's information with them.

The DSS officials explained that their agency dealt with Nigeria's internal security while the NIA was responsible for external threats. The NIA has yet to comment on the allegation.

When the Foreign Affairs Minister, Ojo Maduekwe was asked about the DSS officials' allegations, he said he would reserve judgement on the truth of the matter pending government enquiries being led by the vice president.

The apparent lack of coordination between the DSS and NIA is one more riddle in a dangerous affair which has rocked the US and Nigeria alike.

Nigeria has promised to beef up security at its airports with more and better body scanners in response to the Christmas Day incident.

But sceptical Nigerian travellers have said there is still a "big man" syndrome at play where the rich or well-connected can sometimes be waved through by junior staff unwilling to challenge them.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has announced new, stricter procedures, one traveller leaving a major airport in the country however said that although there did appear to be increased vigilance by the security services, the traveller was still asked on two occasions for "dash", or tips, by airport officials.

Meanwhile, Nigerian officials have admitted that the US gave Nigeria four full-body scanners for its international airports in 2008 to detect explosives and drugs, but none were used on Abdulmutallab.

The alleged terror suspect was only tracked by cameras through the security check, went through a metal detector and had his bag X-rayed when he arrived at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport to continue his journey, the officials say.

The Soter RS scanners delivers 3-D (3 dimensional) images that would have shown something hidden under his clothing.

But a spokesman for the anti-drug agency, which operates the Nigerian machines, told the Associated Press that the one at Lagos airport is used sporadically and only on potential narcotics smugglers.

THISDAY also learnt that even though the full-body scanners have been in the country, they were not put to use due to cultural and privacy concerns.

However, word of the scanners' presence in Nigeria's four main airports apparently hasn't reached top officials, including those responsible for airline safety.

Harold Demuren, the head of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, told reporters on Wednesday that his government would buy 3-D full-body scanners for the airports, and insisted there were currently none there.

But on Thursday, Ofoyeju Mitchell of NDLEA, told the AP that one of the machines sits in a room near the security checkpoint at the Lagos international airport.

He said they aren't used on every passenger. Instead, drug agents select frequent flyers, travellers heading to and from drug shipment points, and people who seem deceptive or under stress.

"The frequency of checks is determined by the risk level of our assessment ... (and) reasonable cause for suspicion," Mitchell said.

Such limited use is not what the US State Department intended when it gave Nigeria the scanners.

According to an April 30, 2009, US State Department report, the scanners were installed in March, May and June of 2008 "to detect explosives and drugs on passengers."

The US Embassy in Nigeria would not comment on the use of the scanners.

However, Demuren and the country's Information Minister have said Abdulmutallab did go through a metal detector and had his bag X-rayed, citing security camera footage which they have not released.

Sam Adurogboye, a spokesman for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, did not deny that some passengers have been allowed to breeze past security checkpoints.

"It is possible in the past that people may have gone above the law," he said. However, he insisted that new rules and their strict enforcement would prevent such practices from recurring.

Passengers can fly directly from Nigeria to Europe and the US. The most recent available statistics show some 2.1 million international travellers passed through the airport in 2006.

Abdulmutallab raised no alarms as he boarded the flight to Amsterdam. He also underwent a second set of searches in Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport that turned up nothing.

Schiphol has 15 scanners, but the US has discouraged their routine use on privacy grounds. Dutch authorities say Abdulmutallab raised no suspicions that would require a scan.

In a related development, the Minister of Information and Communications, Professor Dora Akunyili is insisting that Abdulmutallab spent just half an hour at the airport in Lagos before transferring to an Amsterdam flight.

But Ghanaian authorities have disputed Nigeria's timings, saying Abdulmutallab's stop-over was at least three hours.

A senior Ghanaian government official told the BBC that the suspect bought a one-way ticket to Lagos from Accra that would have given him more than three hours at the airport.

He accused the Nigerians of attempting to "pass the buck" as the search for security lapses continues.

Akunyili previously stated that it was now known Abdulmutallab had boarded a Virgin Nigeria plane from Accra to Nigeria, arriving at Lagos' Murtala Muhammed airport on December 24.