FG To Install Facial Recognition Technology At Airports

The Federal Government has said it would install facial recognition technology at major airports in Nigeria to tackle insecurity.

Minister of state, budget and national planning, Clem Agba made this known Wednesday in Abuja when he hosted the Ambassador of Japan to Nigeria , Mastunag Kazuyoshi and a team from NEC corporation of Japan.

According to a statement signed by the Finance Ministry Information Officer, Olude Omolade, the minister said airports in Nigeria would soon be operating an automatic security measures that will incorporate the use of facial recognition technology in order to improve security around airports.

Agba said that the Technology would be deployed to Airports through grant agreements between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Japanese Government with a focus on Lagos and Abuja International Airports in the pilot phase before the project would be extended to Port Harcourt, Enugu and Kano Airport.

The Minister expressed his readiness and determination to leave a worthy legacy that would be inherited by the next administration in the area of a more secured country, just as he pleaded for the understanding and cooperation of all relevant stakeholders that would make the proposal a reality, assuring that Facial Recognition Technology had proven to be very effective globally, in securing Airports.

In his remarks, the Ambassador of Japan to Nigeria Mastunag Kazuyoshi explained that the use of advanced technology like the facial recognition system would ensure that security threats were reduced in and around Nigeria Airports.

The initiative, he said, would further strengthen the country’s security architecture and encourage more investment opportunities in different sectors of Nigeria’s economy, citing the instance of similar project implemented in Nairobi, Kenya and how the project changed Kenya’s security narratives.