Airport security bosses were left infuriated after the Minister of Housing and Urban Development refused to comply with the usual luggage screening procedures at the Doula airport.
Jean-Claude Mbwentchou’s flight to Abidjan was delayed from taking off due to a security alert from the airport that required all baggage to be extracted and monitored.
According to several detailed and consistent reports to the high hierarchy of the presidency by the security services and airport security, it appears that the incident stems from the "manifest refusal" of the Minister to follow safety and security instructions.
Better still, while the security services luggage scanner had detected an abnormality in his belongings, before being able to identify the foreign objects, the member of government ordered his body-guard to bring the suspected baggage, leaving the security officers speechless.
This report addressed to the Head of State also stressed the courtesy and professionalism of the agents assigned to the filtering of luggage and passengers who the minister chose to ignore, despite all his colleagues, even those in more senior positions, gladly lending themselves to the exercise of control which gives peace of mind to all travellers.
His behaviour not only delayed the flight, but created an escalation with loud confrontations between a government official and simple security guards who only wanted to ensure that the flight is secure.
Various reports to the Head of State from other sources specify the circumstances in which the Minister of Housing and Urban Development forced baggage that had shown shadowed areas during scanning in the bunkers of the aircraft.
Following this unacceptable disregard for the rules of airport safety, the alert was triggered by the head of airport security informing the control tower and captain that a systematic search of all baggage had to be engaged, which caused a damaging delay to the flight.
To justify this incident caused by the refusal of the Minister Mbwentchou to comply with security procedures and security before boarding, security patterns argue strict regulatory provision.
Including the provisions of Title VII-B, paragraph 7 of the Annex to Decree No. 2004/184 of 13 July 2004 on the definition and organization of the National Security Programme of Civil Aviation of Cameroon indicating unequivocally that "shipment must be refused to anyone who does not agree to submit to a search of his person under this program or search or inspection of his checked baggage or cabin."
The decree of 19 February 2008 also establishes rules for safety of civil aviation and states in Article 6 "no person shall hinder, assault, threaten or intimidate an authorized agent when it performs the filtering operations."
A sign that the issue is serious, the Presidency instructed the Director General of the Aviation Authority to conduct some awareness / training for government officials and other senior clerks of the state, the need to submit without resistance to various controls contributing to flight safety.
Any funny business shakes the high spheres of the State, especially in times when security services are under great pressure.
